The new talents
by kakashiclone1120
Summary: Three new genin under one new Jounin sensei. Watch as they interact with other characters from Naruto and make their own mark on history... Bring it on. Rated for violence in later chapters.I'm keeping the pairings a secret for now. REVIEW!
1. Chapter 1

Hey guys. This is the first story I've ever posted. I have most of it written all the way, so if you're not getting regular posts, its because all of you aren't reviewing, or I'm a lazy bastard, take your pick.

Just so you know, I tried to make this mostly serious, but my humor leaks out of the pores of my skin and I just can't help myself sometimes. Hope you like it.

Flamers, just know that I have +100006489 armor against flames. Be constructive people.

I own nothing. Especially Naruto. If I did own, then there would be no real reason for me to write fanfiction now would there. Think about it.

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The students all anxiously awaited their turn to take the ninja exams, finally allowing them to become shinobi finally. This was the day of reckoning. This was the turning point in their lives where nothing would ever be the same. This was where they met their destiny.

Kagame Junichi was a rather tall and quiet boy. He wore a plain muscle shirt and plain training pants with two large fuuma shuriken hanging folded up on either of his sides. Nobody knew why he carried them, for he had never been seen using them in any way. He kept quiet and seemed to barely pay attention in class, and his grades reflected it. He wasn't stupid though, that much everyone could tell. There was some presence or aura about him that hinted at something deeper, something that none of them could quite understand.

Ogoru Ayane was a clumsy girl. She always tried as hard as she possibly could, but never achieved the success she, nor any of her instructors were looking for. She kept her long blond hair braided behind her so it stayed out of her face and she wore a black cloak that covered her whole body. She was a warm and good natured girl, always with a smile on her face and was well liked by many people.

Nagama Saotome was the class genius, though nobody knew how. It was never understood how somebody with his lazy and slightly stupefied attitude got him anywhere. All he did was sit around and play his guitar but somehow managed to keep up the highest grades in the class. His black spiked up hair and his lazy t-shirt and pants routine was always pretty unkempt and his appearance as a whole was sloppy. "All right" the teacher finally announced, "Your test is to henge into your teacher. As I call your names, come up and take the exam"  
One after another they all went up most getting the technique down well enough. Ayane managed to do the transformation properly except for the fact that when she preformed the jutsu, her teacher had breasts. Everyone had a good laugh and she blushed deeply about it but the teacher passed her anyway while shaking his head. Everyone else passed well enough and got their headbands. Now all was left was for their jounin instructor…

Junichi, Ayane, and Saotome had been put in a team. It was the most out of the ordinary team anyone had ever seen. The class cluts, the class genius, and the class…whatever Junichi was, all in the same team. None of them had any real special talents that would make putting them together a smart idea. None of them understood it. None of them even talked as they waited for their jounin instructor. They had nothing to say. It was the most unexpected turn in their lives yet.

Just then a woman wearing a normal jounin outfit walked into the class. She had short red hair and green eyes. Her most noticible feature however was her cornucopia of cleavage.

"Um…I'm here for…" at this point the woman pulled out a piece of paper and looked at what was on it "Junichi, Ayane, and Saotome"  
All of them groaned mentally as they followed her to the training area she led them to. She seemed to be a bit scatterbrained and kept trying to make idle conversation and stupid jokes, neither of which were effective in any sense.

"Allright, lets tell each other a bit about ourselves." The jounin said after reaching their destination "My name is Kanoe, I'm a jounin, I like to eat cookie dough ice cream and watch soap operas on tv. Now your turn" she said pointing at Junichi.

"My name is Junichi. I'm not a jounin. I like to train. Soap operas disgust me and I think that eating just for the sake of eating is disgusting" he said with sarcasm dripping from his voice.

"I'm Nagama Saotome dude. I like my guitar and I want to kick some serious ass. I also think that you have a nice rack. That is all." Saotome said with a grin. Kanoe punched him in the face.

"My name is Ogoru Ayane, and I really, really really, wanna be a shinobi. I'm not good at a whole lot of things, but I think soap operas are great" Ayane said with a big smile all over her face. The two guys stared at her.

"Well, now that we're introduced, we need to get down to business. I need you all to fight me so I can judge your ability or whatever… I can't really remember what all they told me to do at that teaching seminar… just go hide now" Kanoe stated at a length.

All of them immediately disappeared with the exception of Junichi, who sat there idly as if waiting for something.

"Aren't you going to hide or something" Kanoe asked him a little hesitantly.

"There would be no need. I'm simply giving my team time to formulate a plan and keep you busy. So I hope you GET A PLAN" he stated yelling back at the woods at his teammates.

Kanoe stared at him for a second to see if he was for real. He wasn't even standing up to face her. He was hiding something. She was no fool. She knew that for him to be so sure of himself he would have to have something up his sleeve. She decided to be careful about it and just threw a kunai at him.

Junichi flashed into action quite suddenly. In an instant he did a backflip right over the flying dagger and landed neatly on his feat.

"Pathetic" He spat on the ground "Of course, I can see that you sense it…It gives off an aura doesn't it…"

"What are you talking about?" Kanoe asked warily. The boy was definitely strange. She couldn't quite pinpoint it but she knew that he had a hidden strength.

"It's what I've worked for my entire life…Its what I strive to do. It will be what I become famous for. Its all the pain I endured to get what I have…but I don't think I'll use it. This isn't worth using it for…instead I'll simply apply strategic pressure" Junichi went on as he pulled out his double fuuma shuriken, wielding them as swords instead of shuriken. He runs at her with astonishing speed for a genin.

Kanoe was off guard for a second, his ranting seemed almost insane. There was something wrong with him. Even as she dodged his attacks she knew that he was good. He was amazing for a genin. His grades didn't show it but this young man had endured a lot of pain and trained for hours on end every day to achieve what he had. She continued to dodge his attacks and ,finally seeing an opening, landed a swift kick to the side of his head sending him out cold.

As he lay there Kanoe shivered. She had heard of children possessed by demons and other such things on her soap operas and feared the worst for this boy. He just gave her the creeps. She headed off into the woods to look for the other two.

Ayane wasn't hiding very well. She stood up and held branches in different directions as if pretending to be a tree. Kanoe actually stopped and stared at her for a second to see what she was doing. Just as she was about to move toward her Saotome jumped up from some nearby bushes and threw a barrage of kunai and shuriken at her. Kanoe jumped out of the way quickly and ran at him. The boy was barely able to defend himself and went down in a few hits. Ayane was stunned and didn't even need to be taken down because she fainted when she saw Saotome fall unconscious.

All three of them woke up tied together around a pole. Kanoe sat on a stump nearby shaking her head.

"Individually, you are the most mismatched and physically weak team I've ever encountered. You have some idea of teamwork but you're so mismatched that it doesn't matter. You all have bad taijutsu, and you didn't get enough time to do anything else. You all pass but we are going to train as hard as possible to get you all to an acceptable level" Kanoe berated while they sat there.

"I have my own training to do" Junichi stated plainly "Your training wont help me"

"Well mister high and mighty, why don't you teach us a thing or two!" Saotome yelled at him "We're all just dying to know why you think you're too good to train with us"  
Junichi was silent for a time and finally he loosens himself from the ropes and stands up. "Not yet." He said plainly "While I don't plan to keep my techniques to myself, you're not ready. In time you can learn what I know, but until then you must all wait."  
"Sure…" Kanoe said a little creeped out. "Right now you're going to do some taijutsu practice on a nearby tree until I deem you worthy to go home. Is that understood?"

Junichi looked at her for a second then at a tree. Suddenly a great amount of chakra gathered in his hand and he thrust it towards a tree. In a split second, the tree shattered and its remains fell to the ground with a crash.

"Can I go?" he asked simply and deliberately.

Everyone stared at him. They stared at the tree. They stared at his arm. Finally he got tired and just left and still they all sat there silently, not knowing what to say. They all went home and didn't say a word. That night they each had nightmares about Junichi. Some of them were with him killing things one after another, other dreams were of him getting killed slowly and painfully, but they were all nightmares. All would haunt everyone for a long time.

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I love you. Review or else. I'm out. 


	2. Chapter 2

Hidy ho dere everybody. I'm updating again because i know some people like to read more than one chapter of something. I do. I'll admit it. So here you go. Like I said before, I have about fifteen more chapters already written. Once people start hitting the story well, then I'll start making you wait for a while.

Man I want some reviews...and a sandwich right about now...

I dont own anything. If I did own Naruto, there would be more boobs. big ones. boobs all over the place. boobapalooza.

* * *

Junichi awoke the next morning in his spacious and hauntingly empty house. The sound of nothing had awoken him as always. Somehow it always managed to alert him to whatever it was that needed alerting to and ,as always, remained ominous and aloof.

It wasn't an overly large house, just a regular one which was far too much room for one person. The kitchen was never used, like most of the house. What was used was outside. The handmade shed next to the woods where tools and practice dummies were kept. Little else except training tools were important to Junichi.

Groggily he got up and went to the shower. He let the hot water burn away any soreness or tiredness he had. He didn't even use any sort of soap. He got out and put on his clothes without any hurry. Breakfast was instant ramen, which he had found a way to cook even faster than the lie of instant meals printed on the package. It only took him thirty seconds with his self developed method of adding oil to the water to get it to a higher temperature faster. It made the noodles taste funny but he didn't mind.

As he ate his nearly instant meal, he thought about the previous day's battle. He had been trying to buy his teammates time and judging from the position he awoke in, he assumed that they had not used it wisely.

"My taijutsu IS weak" he thought to himself as he finished the last of his slightly disgusting meal.

His weakness was evident to himself now. He had always known it, but now his lack of care for taijutsu had reared its ugly head. He would now have to train extra hard in that respect in addition to his ninjutsu training and his "other" training.

Junichi loved ninjutsu. It was his passion. His greatest joy in life was to create new jutsus. His love for his ninjutsu had even driven him into some choppy and uncharted waters as far as modern ninjutsu went, metaphorically speaking of course. He had learned how to expel chakra from his body and use it as a weapon. He had trained extensively on tree climbing and water walking before he could touch upon where he was now. If so inclined, he could blow a ninja's skeleton clean through his body. Well…not clean…more like clear…yeah, that was a better word.

Junichi got his two windmill shuriken and left his house, not even bothering to lock it up. He merely preformed a special jutsu on the door, preventing anyone outside from getting inside alive. He walked with his hands in his pockets to the training area they met at the day before. He was the only one there. Perfect. He looked around and simply started doing pushups. He didn't count. Counting was the start of the production of limits and barriers. He had learned early on in his training to stop counting.

When everyone else walked up he was sweating profusely, but still working away, his dedication to his training eliminating his ability to sense that they were there. He merely kept going until finally he stopped and fell to the ground. He managed to lean himself up on a tree and finally looked up and saw everyone staring at him.

"Just trying to round myself out" He said quickly, as if embarrassed that they had been able to watch him without him noticing. How long had they been there?

"Dude, we thought you were fixing to puke!" Saotome exclaimed with his usual idiotic tone "You just kept going and going…man how many did you do before we got here?"  
Junichi smiled before replying. "I don't know" he said simply, enjoying the confused look on Saotome's face and the understanding look on Kanoe's face.

"Good idea kid, but don't push yourself too hard, that's how injuries happen" Kanoe said, bending down and rubbing a hand through his white hair.

"No" Junichi said in a condescending tone "Pushing yourself is how injuries are prevented. Were I to slack off, I could get myself killed in battle, and I'm sure you're aware that death is a very serious injury."  
"Is that so" Kanoe asked sarcastically "Then keep doing pushups if pushing yourself is so good for you."

Junichi looked up at her and grinned. He then deliberately got back down and started doing pushups again.

"C'mon you two" Kanoe said to Ayane and Saotome "Lets leave Junichi alone to train. I'm going to teach you some new jutsus."

Junichi stopped in mid pushup. She had guessed it. She knew what he loved more than anything and was taunting him with it. After a second he kept going though, choosing to fight through the pain. He vomited after a few more and simply moved to another spot. He did pushups all day. When everyone else came back tired, he was still doing pushups.

"Hey, kid, you can stop now" Kanoe said to him. She looked around and noticed a couple of piles of vomit. He would kill himself at this rate. Gently she leaned down and picked him up. As soon as his limbs left the ground, he fell unconscious. The only thing that had kept him going was the pain of working. As soon as she had removed that pain, he had blacked out.

Kanoe carried him back to her place. She knew where he lived, but she also knew that she wouldn't be able to get in without him awake and she didn't have the heart to wake him up. She wondered if he had any family at home who he had taught the closing jutsu to…oh well, didn't matter. She could ask him all about himself when he woke up.

She finally reached her place with him slumped over her shoulder. She took out her key and unlocked the door to a cramped apartment room. She quickly deposited Junichi on the couch and went to take a shower. She wasn't worried about him waking up and finding her nude in the shower because she knew his type. Things like modesty, social status, even eating didn't matter to him. She knew that to him all that mattered was strength, and what was involved in getting it. She got out of the shower and put on her night clothes which was nothing more than lingere really. She crawled into her bed thinking about what it was that he knew and how hard it must have been for him to obtain it. She had watched him train after he had left the day before. She knew what "it" was. She also knew that so much training and no human companionship is what had driven him insane. It didn't matter though because she would remedy that.

Kanoe slept blissfully that night thinking up maniacle plans to help her most dedicated and slightly frightening student.


	3. Chapter 3

Whats kikin guys? Nothin much for me. I just happened to notice something today. I was all reading over the story again and i said to myself:

"Dude, these chapters are way shorter than you thought they were." and i said back "I know, but what to do about it. It's already written and if i change it now, i have to change the whole story."

"Apologize to the readers, and that one reviewer." I said to myself

"That's not a bad idea!" I replied, and then leapt into action like a cheetah on a trampoline. And so, i'm sorry peoples. I know they're short right now, but bear with me. Also, it says humor on the genre. Well here it is, the first chapter where things got funny. I try.

Also, i got a review. When I saw it, I didn't even read it at first. I dropped everything I was doing and loaded this chapter while using the lag time to do the worm in my very cramped room. All I have to say is:

I love you. I love you in a very normal, author and reader way of course, but the love is there. You made my entire week get better. Thanks man. I'll answer reviews at the bottom from now on... answer reviews...I am so awsome...

I dont own Naruto or anybody. I'm actually thinking of selling my soul on ebay for spare cash. I dont own ebay either. sobs

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Kanoe awoke to the smell of food. At first she tried to go back to sleep, then she wondered who would be cooking and why were they in her house. She got up and got a baseball bat and silently went to the kitchen. The intruder was there, cooking of all things. She leapt out from her hiding place and swung at the burglar with all her might. 

Junichi immediately crumpled to the ground as soon as the blow hit him. Somehow he managed to hold on to consciousness, giving him a good view of Kanoe in her underwear standing over him with a bat. Then he started to see multiples of her and that just made everything worse. He tried to get up but when he reached for something to pull himself up on he grabbed the stove and burnt his hand badly, causing him to fall on the floor on top of his very sore arm.

"Oh shit" was all Kanoe could say as she began to remember why her student was here and then the thought of him cooking wasn't so absurd "I am so sorry!"

She immediately picked him up and laid him back down on the couch. Her first attention went to his hand and she quickly began to dress the wound as best she possibly could.

"Man… why does my head hurt…why are you not wearing clothes…why do there have to be so many of you…" Junichi managed to mutter while staring incredulously around the room. He gently put two fingers in his head and looked at the crimson liquid that had gotten onto his skin. "Hey, I think my head is leaking too…"

"I'm really, really, sorry." Kanoe kept repeating like a mantra of some sort "I thought you were a burglar and hit you with a bat… I think you'll be ok. How many fingers am I holding up?"  
"Who cares about fingers, I'm cooking breakfast" He muttered half to himself as he pushed himself back up and went back to the stove as if he were doing it subconsciously.

Kanoe stared at him and then looked down at herself and realized that she wasn't wearing clothes and quickly ran into her bedroom and dressed herself. When she got out Junichi had set a plate of food on the table and was sitting down with an ice pack on the side of his head.

"Kanoe-sensei…" He said, the tone of his voice indicating that his ability to think was returning to him "I'll excuse it this time, but if you ever hit me in the head with anything bat-like in density again, there will be hell to pay. Lots of it."

"Look, I'm sorry" she said as tenderly as possible and trying to ignore his threat "If you can do it, think of a way for me to make it up to you and I'll do whatever I can"

Junichi was silent for a long time, and when he finally spoke, Kanoe was already eating. "Get us a good A level mission." He said definitely.

Kanoe nearly choked on her food. "I can't do that!" she exclaimed "Do you know how much trouble I could get in if I did that? I could lose my job!"  
"Do you know exactly how much blood I lost out of a wound in my head you caused while I was cooking breakfast for you?" Junichi said tersely "I don't mean anything immediate, just within a few weeks or so. Our team needs something like this and I think we can pull through it if we were given the chance. Ayane needs to be challenged to be able to perform and Saotome isn't a slouch. He knows how to do things and I think he holds a lot back. If we can extract their abilities and exploit them, I think we have one of the best genin teams in current operation."  
Kanoe looked down at her food for a second. It was actually quite good. Not burnt or anything. "Alright, I'll do it." She finally agreed "But if I do and you all get killed, know that its you're fault and not mine. I'll assist you in any fights we get into and instruct you all I can, but I hold no responsibility. That's my terms"

"Deal" Junichi said, closing his eyes and leaning back in his chair "I'll give you two months tops. Do it when you think we'll be best equipped for it within that timeframe."

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Shang: I freakin love you man! The first reviewer on my first story ever...my beloved Shang...now to adress your review. It does get quite a bit better, according to me, and I'm a pretty sharp guy if I do say so myself. And you'll learn alot about him, considering I center alot of my story around him. Hope you keep reading. You will always have a special place in my heart. 


	4. Chapter 4

Hello people. I regret to inform you that i'm going to be away for an entire week without a computer to load my story up with. Upon recollection, I decided to go ahead and do:

AN OMEGA, SUPER-SPECTACULAR, AWE INSPIRING TRIPLE UPDATE!

I really hope you like it. And even if you dont like it, review and tell me how to make it better. I'm strainin to get more than one review here. I got a taste of glory and I want more!

As always and forever more, I dont own Naruto in any shape or form...but I do hope to remedy that soon...soon...

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Training. It ruled him. Junichi was a slave to strength. It controlled everything he did. It dictated his every action. It was who he was. He was training. He gave up having friends. He gave up eating properly except when he knew he had to. He gave up resting except when he would finish training and wouldn't wake up for a few days. In a month and a half, his taijutsu became stronger. He had even developed his own secret style.

Junichi walked his way to the meeting area. Today was a good day. He had a feeling that class A mission would come along today. He had Kanoe explain everything to the others, to allow them to prepare in the best ways they could. He was confident in their abilities.

The meeting area was bare as always. He was the first one there just like always. Unlike always, he didn't take the extra time to train. Today the tide would change. He would start his path of power today. He would face true enemies and hopefully come back alive…hopefully was the word that exited him the most.

Saotome was the second to appear. He strolled in casually as always, looking like a slob and plopped down and played his guitar just like he did every morning. Saotome was actually very good at his guitar. It was the only thing he ever showed interest in. His fingers flew across the neck while his other hand strummed or picked wildly producing sounds that would shock most people…but not Junichi.

"What do you use that thing for in battle?" Junichi asked him. This was one of the first times Junichi had said something to somebody in his team that wasn't sarcastic. It was strange.  
"Well, I can read people's movements, emotions, and words and play them on this guitar see" Saotome explained "And put together a song. If I know the song, I can predict an opponents moves ahead of time. Some of the masters of this technique can predict wars, famine, prosperity…just about anything."  
Junichi thought on the usefulness of the technique for a long time before speaking. "So, in theory, if you knew my song, you could beat me…"  
"In theory…yes" Saotome replied with a smirk. He was reveling in the fact that he had a one up on the master training-freak shinobi. It felt oh so good. Almost to good to be straight…almost, he decided.

"Care to test the theory in an experiment?" Junichi asked coolly with a smirk. He knew that he had just crushed Saotome's good feeling in to tiny pieces.

Junichi had crushed his good feeling into tiny pieces. Saotome knew he would lose against Junichi but he couldn't back down. His reputation was at steak. He might as well lose to Ayane if he was going to back down.

"I'll take you down anyday you creepy training-freak!" Saotome yelled at him. Not a smart thing to do, he decided right after he had said it.

"Very well" Junichi started with a grin "I'll let you hide for ten second. And as a rule, I'm not allowed to use ninjutsu. You can use whatever…Now go"

Saotome stumbled backwards and disappeared in a puff of smoke. He ran into the woods, hoping to lose Junichi. Desperately he tried to form a plan in his mind.

Junichi was taking his sweet time. He wasn't worried in any way shape or form. If all else failed he still had his chakra expellation techniques. Those didn't require hand signals and thus, were not true ninjutsu. This would be fun. He walked calmly through the woods and pulled out his two fuuma shuriken. With a burst of power he threw them through the woods, sending the weapons spinning and tearing down anything in their path, leaving entire trees in their wake.

Saotome heard them just before they were coming. Instantaneously, he dropped to the ground. The shuriken buzzed over his head and made a wide arc, curving themselves back towards their master. Saotome knew his number was coming up. He did the only thing he knew how to do. He played his guitar.

Junichi was pissed off now. Saotome had dodged his attack and was now taunting him. He threw the weapons again this time a bit lower. The shuriken sliced through already cut stumps and came back to him. The guitar could still be heard. Junichi started to walk forward. As soon as he started to move the playing stopped.

Saotome ran up into a tree. It was the only shelter he thought he had. He tried to think about what he could do. He began to put together Junichi's movements on his guitar. He did it as quickly as possible because he knew that the sound would alert him.  
Junichi knew which direction the sound came from and even knew the exact location of his opponent. He took a single shuriken and sliced the tree in half, causing it to fall to the ground. When it fell he looked for his teammate but found that he was nowhere. He was about to turn around when a barrage of kunai flew at his back. Thinking immediately he put up his shuriken and spun it around, deflecting all of the kunai. Then he heard the guitar playing from the opposite direction the kunai came from. Obviously there had been a trap and he had fallen for it. He walked toward the guitar sound slowly and deliberately, not trying to hide his sound.

Junichi was sure of himself when he peaked around the tree. There was nobody there. Junichi's confident feeling disappeared when he saw the explosive tag laid down cleverly before him. He immediately ducked but the blast blew him back twenty feet and slammed him into a tree. Junichi sat there for a second and moved to get up when two hands, each holding a kunai, reached around the tree and held the kunai to his throat. Saotome had won the match.

Immediately clapping could be heard. Both boys wheeled around and saw Kanoe and Ayane standing there applauding them.

"That was great!" Kanoe applauded "While I am disappointed that you would fall for that one Junichi, I am slightly astonished that you were beaten."

Junichi quickly shot her a look. Not a glare, but something else. It was so quick that nobody noticed. "Good fight" Junichi said as he got up and shook Saotome's hand "It appears the more talented man one this fight."

"Seriously!" Saotome yelled incredulously "Dude, I was just doin whatever I thought might work…man…I beat Junichi…THE Junichi…I need to go and eat myself a cake or something."  
"Good job Saotome kun" Ayane chimed in "After training today lets go and celebrate! Could you teach me some of those techniques?"  
"Well I suppose I could if you think you're up to it" Saotome said, trying to be macho and bask in the limelight as long as possible "C'mon. I'll teach you everything I know" he said as they both walked off together, Ayane looking very exited.

After they had left, Kanoe walked over to Junichi and stared him down for a while. He tried to ignore her at first but she just persisted until he couldn't stand it anymore.

"What?" he demanded as she looked at him.

"You lost that fight on purpose" Kanoe stated simply "You wouldn't lose to Saotome even if you did give yourself a handicap. And the fact that you were able to survive that blast shows that you knew it was there…Why did you do it?"

Junichi grinned. Not smiled, grinned. "Because now, Saotome truly believes that he can surmount any obstacle. He will go into battle trusting his abilities and knowing that he has the ability to succeed in anything he tries at. That in itself is one of mankind's greatest powers." He explained simply as he stared off into the distance "Well, after all the day's exitement, I think we should be given a Class A mission…don't you?"  
Kanoe sighed deeply "You are way to smart to be normal you know that?" she said to him as she ran a hand through her hair. He had been right…creepy little bastard.


	5. Chapter 5

Hey homies. This is part two of my

OMEGA, SUPER-SPECTACULAR, AWE INSPIRING TRIPLE UPDATE!

I really hope you like it. Please review me.

I dont own Naruto. I barely own my oc's. There are some people who are trying to take THEM from me too.

Junichi: let them come, I'll rip them to shreds

Me: I'm afraid it's not that simple. Dont get me wrong, I'm into shreds and everything, but more than likely we'd have to sue them repeatedly.

Ayane: can we invite them for tea?

Me: no...no we can't

Saotome: do they have nice boobs?

Me: I would have noticed something like that...

* * *

Traveling life. It sucked big time, Saotome decided as they jumped through the trees toward their target. Pushing himself was something that Saotome had always hated. Not only hated, but loathed. Had he applied himself, he was sure that Junichi or even Kanoe-sensei would have a hard time keeping up with him. But work was work and music was bliss. Not hard to guess which one got more attenention. 

He had to admit though, it was a nice day out. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, Ayane was humming something to herself. She had a nice voice. He would have to learn her song. And then Kanoe's…All in due time, he told himself.

Their mission was indeed a good one. Ayane and Saotome had nearly fainted when Kanoe told them what they would be doing. In the pit of their stomach they just knew that Junichi had something to do with this one…

They were to go to the hidden sand and upon reaching there, they would receive the rest of their orders. Currently they were to travel there as quickly as possible and try to avoid shinobi attacks. And since it was Junichi's fault they were there, he stayed on guard duty all of the time. If this didn't get them killed…well lets just say that god would have to be repaid over the course of several years.

At night they stopped in a small clearing to rest and recover from a day of traveling. They ate whatever canned food they had brought and heated it up over the coals of what was once a fire, but regular fire makes smoke. Smoke is very bad. So all they had were the embers.

Junichi was standing watch as always. He stood on a high branch of a tree with a notebook and continuously wrote while he kept guard. For a couple of days now he had been writing in that book. Everyone was wondering what was in it, but nobody wanted to ask because they were slightly afraid of the answer.

"Hey, Junichi kun" Ayane spoke up, finally summoning up the nerve to speak "I was wondering what you're writing down in that notebook of yours…It's not a hit list is it?"

Saotome sighed deeply and ran a hand through his messy hair. She had no tact. None whatsoever.

"These are new techniques I'm trying to work out." Junichi explained to everyone's surprise "A lot of the things I work on take quite a bit of geometry and algebra. Before I attempt to do something, I have to write down how I would do it in a manner that wouldn't harm me or my teammates"

Everyone stared at him for a while. He really was dedicated to these jutsus of his.

"And you know" he said, almost as an afterthought "You don't have to be so nervous around me. If you ask me, I'll most likely tell you and if I don't there'll be a good reason for it. Just because I know the things I do doesn't make me an insane axe murderer who might slit all your throats while you sleep starting with Kanoe sensei, then moving to Saotome, and finally Ayane."  
"Well…what are you working on then mister not an axe murderer?" Ayane asked with a smile on her face.

Junichi jumped down and landed beside her. He leaned over and showed her his notebook and explained it as best he could "It's a cutting jutsu I'm working on. The idea is to put chakra into your fingertips and drag them along a surface. After about a half a second of delay, it should burn a cut into the surface. Its one flaw is that you have to keeps your fingers on the surface. If you lift them off, the justsu deactivates. Its mainly for cutting down buildings or removing parts of bridges, but it can be used to cut down an enemy if done right"

"Wow…that sounds really complicated" Ayane said as she looked down at the ground "Do you think…. maybe you could…sort of…teach it to me?"

Junichi looked at her for a second and then grinned. "Why of course I could." He said "After all I don't create them for myself alone. Now get up, we'll work on this tree over here"

They went over and slowly Junichi began teaching her the hand seals and the overall technique with all its little intricacies. Meanwhile Saotome and Kanoe sat across from each other.

"Have you ever seen someone more dedicated than him?" Saotome asked slowly, keeping his voice down so as not to disrupt them.

"Not in a long time" Kanoe stated as if she was daydreaming "I knew one like him once…but they are very different. This one wishes to share his knowledge with his teammates and his village and keep little to himself. The other wished only to grow and grow in power until none could oppose him…"

"What happed to him…the other like Junichi?" Saotome asked slowly, sensing there were memories tied to this person.

"The village killed him" she said with a sigh "We even had to get help from other villages, and even then, nobody is one hundred percent sure that he's dead…"

"Damn…" Was all Saotome could get out "Do you think that Junichi could become like that…evil and too powerful?"

"I believe he might be even greater in power," Kanoe said with a smile "But we have to be careful. He is insane, just on a level that even he doesn't know about. All these years of friend deprivation and endless training have warped him. He doesn't know it, but something could trigger him and he could completely lose it at any moment…That's why I want to set him up with Ayane"  
"You must be the dumbest human alive to think that will work" Saotome chided "Those two are way too different. She's a screw up and he has power on a level the rest of the world hasn't even touched!"

"True" Kanoe said with a smirk "But look at them. They learn from each other. She becomes more powerful and he becomes more stable mentally, and the void in his empty existence is filled…they need each other. All we have to do is spark the attraction part of it"  
"We?" Saotome asked incredulously "Since when did I get mixed up in your little evil scheme?"  
"I DID IT!" Ayane shouted, "Did you see! It was so cool! I just ripped that tree apart!"  
"Good job. Your control still needs refinement, but you have successfully learned the jutsu" Junichi praised with a smile.

"You're involved because you asked…don't worry it'll be easy." Kanoe whispered to Saotome.

Saotome merely shook his head and went back to playing his guitar. He had to admit that there was some sense to her plan…but it would take quite a bit of work. Saotome hated work.


	6. Chapter 6

allright. part three of the

OMEGA, SUPER-SPECTACULAR, AWE INSPIRING TRIPLE REVIEW!

This one's not as long as the others, and doesn't serve any real purpose to further the plot. Many chapters are going to seem like this. All I have to say is... This is my fic and I'll pretty much do what I want to. People are gonna be all like "WHY THE HELL DID YOU PAIR THEM UP!" or "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING WHEN YOU CHANGED THAT!" or my personal favorite "ARE YOU HIGH OR SOMETHING! HOW COULD YOU EVEN THINK OF DOING THAT!" but I don't care and never have. Even if it probably wouldn't happen in the manga, I want it to happen sooo...thats how it is...too bad if you dont like it. I hope you DO like it, but if you don't, its really not gonna break my heart...my cold, black, emotionless heart...

I dont own any part of Naruto. Not even a share of stock.

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They kept on traveling. Ayane was now in what seemed to be a permanently cheerful mood. It annoyed the hell out of everyone else, except Junichi, surprisingly. Junichi and Ayane were getting along better, much to Kanoe's sinister pleasure. Though it only went as deep as a master-student type thing. Junichi knew what they were trying to do and decided to go with it. He knew that he needed her just as she needed him. If it isn't broke, don't fix it.

They set up camp again, just on the outskirts of the sand country. Junichi kept watch while scribbling in his notebook as usual. Ayane was off in the woods training on her own, always trying to improve herself to get Junichi's approval. Kanoe and Saotome…they went from playing dice to trying to cook things on the coals or even experimenting with different types of wood to see which would make less smoke. They had no success and simply rested they're food in the embers and amused themselves while they waited.

All was quiet and had been for some time. Junichi looked up from his scribbling and stared off into the woods. Something was there…It was hiding. A red light went of in Junichi's head and a siren screamed "danger!" at the top of its metaphorical lungs.

Then the kunai and shuriken came flying. Junichi didn't even jump out of the tree but just fell out, narrowly avoiding breaking something on his fall. In an instant, everyone was in battle mode. The instant the second volley came, everyone was already gone and one can of food was missing from the fire. Saotome was a moron.

Junichi had himself lain down flat on the ground. He cursed inwardly for not being able to detect his enemy sooner. He desperately searched around. Then he felt the subtle chakra signal right over him. He didn't move. As slowly as possible he reached for his two windmill shuriken and with all the speed and power he could muster, launched himself from the ground and threw the shuriken in both directions.

The hiding mist chuunin ducked under the shuriken that came his way. He grinned evilly as he leapt down towards his prey who had so willingly showed itself to him. No sooner had he landed though than a windmill shuriken tore through his torso and was caught by the boy standing in front of him. He didn't even have time to feel the pain or let his torso slide off from the rest of his body before his head was completely severed. As it fell on the ground it watched its own body fall apart. His last thought was a curse upon nerves for keeping his brain alive.

Kanoe was doing quite well. She had her prey picked out and was now simply toying with him. She grinned as she took out the wires she used and for which she was famous. Quietly she set her stage and slowly descended. Upon touching the ground she made sure she made a soft landing noise. The chuunin wheeled around and instantly charged at her. As soon as he did so, his left foot fell off of its limb, then with a twitch of Kanoe's fingers, the rest of his appendages followed in succession, ending with the splitting in of his body vertically, creating the killing blow. Kanoe was slightly disappointed she didn't get a smarter opponent and walked off boredly, trying to find the rest of her team.

Saotome was pissed off. He randomly cursed everything in existence that was curseable and then tried to make up some stuff to curse but then remembered the position he was in. He had a mist chuunin breathing down his neck. He reached quietly over to his guitar and without actually playing the notes, fingered each action that had happened thus far. He knew the song, thank god. He reached to his kunai pouch and drew a kunai in each hand. The first he threw at a tree that was off in some other direction making it seem like he missed. The chuunin wheeled towards where the kunai should have come from only to receive another kunai in the head. He fell like a sack of potatoes. Finally convinced he was out of danger, Saotome leaned up against a tree and began to eat some food out of a can he had taken when he fled.

Ayane was tired and decided to head back to camp. Idly she skipped back, happy that she had made some improvement on her ninjutsu. Junichi would be proud of her. She wondered for a second if he actually cared, but then put the thought out of her mind as she walked into camp.  
"Hey every-" She began to greet but stopped her self short upon seeing the sight of the camp before her.

Junichi was sitting on a log next to a decapitated corpse, cleaning the blood off of his windmill shuriken and stacking forehead protectors from the mist country. Saotome was trying to pull a kunai out of another body's head and seemed to be struggling with it. Kanoe sat there happily humming something as she lit up a real fire and began to cook some sort of soup.

"What in the world happened here?" Ayane exclaimed "What are all of these corpses and why did nobody tell me what was happening?"

Junichi sighed "Know your surroundings Ayane…know your surroundings" was all he said as he went back to cleaning off his weapons.

Ayane sat down and starred of wildly into space. The rest of the night was silent, even as they ate Kanoe-sensei's soup that was actually not half bad. Not a word.


	7. Chapter 7

HOLY FREAKIN CRAP!

I leave for five days and suddenly I get quadruple the reviews I had before? Sweet jesus this story must actually be pretty good. When I saw it I was so inspired, I stopped writing the story and loaded up chapters seven and eight. I probably won't get back to writing until tomorrow. I freakin love you guys. Shang, thanks for continuing to read man.

Quick list of things I dont own: Naruto, Jesus, Family Guy, a crime syndacate, and enough pants to last me a week. I guess I just have to forge ahead.

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"Why are you keeping those forehead protectors" Ayane asked Junichi with an almost childlike curiosity. They had long since cleaned out the bodies but now, knowing no danger would find them for a while, Junichi sat next to the fire with the hitae-ate next to him while he scribbled in his notebook.

"I'm trying to work out a way to use these as armor" Junichi replied simply "It's a difficult technique that would require a few seals and a massive amount of chakra…And it would only be useful if I could manipulate the position of the protectors."  
Ayane thought for a second. "Why don't you use an electric jutsu and manipulate the position of the forehead protectors using the attraction and detraction force of magnetism?" she asked as if it were the simplest thing in the world.

Junichi stared down at his paper for a second. Then in a flurry of motion he began writing as fast as he possibly could with an eager look on his face.

"It would be very possible" he said to everyone's astonishment "but it would take a lot of chakra and near perfect control of all of it…If only I could make it independent" he idly went back to his writing.

"How the hell did you come up with that idea Ayane chan?" Saotome said rather loudly "usually you're not good at anything, let alone thinking"  
"Saotome" Kanoe said quietly "just because you do nothing and get everything doesn't mean that everyone else is below you. Ayane's clan even has a blood limit, though even she may not know it."

"Whoa!" Saotome exclaimed, sounding a lot like some wigged out surfer "I didn't know you had a blood limit? What is it?"  
"Well…" Ayane stammered shyly "Its not really all that useful, see." Ayane then threw a rock into the air. Midway through its flight the rock disappeared and reappeared flying back towards Ayane who caught it with a smile.  
"Not useful!" Saotome yelled, "With that you could kick some serious ass! Man I wish I had a blood limit or something"

"Its not really all that great" Ayane said, shrugging off the attention she was getting "It could basically only be used in throwing the opponent off for a second."

"Right before you make the killing blow" Junichi said while he still kept writing "In a battle, a second is all you need to win."

"What about you Junichi kun, does your clan have any special abilities or jutsus that you use?" Saotome asked excitedly.

"I don't know" Junichi admitted in an almost melancholy manner while seeming determined not to show it "I'm an only child, my mother died giving birth to me, my father left me when I was three, all of my family on my mother's side blames me for her death, all of my father's family died during missions or wars."

Kanoe looked at him thoughtfully for a second. "Junichi, how old are you exactly" she asked him almost warily, as if she were afraid of the answer.

"I'm thirteen" He replied simply.

Kanoe bit her lip. "Do you know if you look anything like your father?" she asked, again almost afraid of the answer.

Junichi looked up at her with an almost hateful glare in his eyes. "Yes, I do look like the son of a bitch who made my childhood a living hell. I resemble the bastard I will kill without mercy if he ever decides to show his cowardly face within five miles of my vicinity. Why do you want to know?" he said once again giving everyone around him the creeps.

"No reason" Kanoe said looking down at the ground "I was just wondering…well we better get moving."

"I think that would be a good idea," Junichi said coldly as he packed up his book and the headbands before bounding off into the trees before him.

"What's wrong with him" Saotome asked as Ayane went off after Junichi "Were you aware you were pissing him off?"

"Remember that guy I told you about that took a couple of villages to kill?" Kanoe asked, the very memory of the guy sending chills up her spine "It seems he was Junichi's father…and from the account of Junichi, he's alive still."

Ayane bounded after Junichi. It took all of her strength to catch up with him. He seemed to be moving as fast as he could through the dense foliage. At last she caught up with him after much work.

"Hey, why did you flip out back there" Ayane asked him, trying to be as tender and caring as possible.

"The bastard left me" Junichi said angrily "He was all that I had…I never really liked him all that much because he was always yelling at me…but all the same, he pushed me into solitude…you don't know what that's like. I swear, one day I will kill him…I'll kill him and I'll enjoy it."

"Don't talk like that!" Ayane snapped at him, slapping him across the face quickly "I may not know what it's like to be lonely, but I do know that to wish for one's father's death is a horrible thing to wish for, no matter what he did to you! I can't even begin to imagine what it's like to live with that pain, but I do know that it's thoughts like those that turn people into wretched evil beings, and you'll only end up being worse than him!"

Junichi felt the side of his face where she slapped him. It was an odd sensation. It stung slightly, but he felt like now he would be all right. Curious. As he looked up he noticed that she had tears welling in her eyes. He didn't understand that either. Was she mad at him? What was going on? Then Junichi did the only thing he thought he might be able to get away with.

She gasped slightly as he put his arms around her and held her close to him. It was so out of character for him. Junichi, the cold and ruthless and powerful was really just a regular person who had lived his life without any solace or comfort, and while you had to dig deep to reach it, there was an entire reservoir of pain below the surface.

"Thank you, Ayane" Junichi whispered to her "You are right. By hating him, I only become him…I just felt so lonely, and I blamed him for all of it. It was so easy to hate him. I don't know that I'll ever forgive him, but I do know that should he and I ever meet, I'll keep your words in mind"

She was blushing deeply as he pulled away from her slowly. It was probably the most emotional moment in his life. She was a girl, and thus, subject to such emotions all the time. For him though, this was new. She stared at him as he walked off through the forest. Did she have feelings for him? Did he have feelings for her? What should she do now?

With a shake of her head she jogged up to Junichi's position. They kept walking for the rest of the day in complete silence. For some reason, they felt like they were both talking the entire time, but neither had said a word…curious indeed…

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Shang: hohoho devilish laugh I think you like this story Shang. You were my first reviewer and from the looks of it you kept on reviewing. I gotta tell you, it looks like Junichi's the overlord now...and he kinda is...but later everybody else gets alot stronger, especially Saotome. I even have plans for Ayane, very, very good plans my friend. And he's actually not that strong, He just plays by different rules. If you end up in cambodia and somebody hands you a stick and a ball and says 'play the game. if you lose you die' you're probably gonna end up dead.

Youkai Ryuu: ahhh, you're a perceptive one. I like the way you think Ryuufriend. And I did take your advice and mess with the review blocker. Thanks for that one. As for the rating, I just wanted to warn people really. I read ALOTof Hellsing and Priest, so people get like...eaten alive later...yeah. My writing style is horribly flawed. I could have told you that. I hate reading books that give too much detail, so when I write, I tend to not discribe things properly and I skip through stuff I probably shouldn't. I don't claim to be a wonderful writer, though I wish I was. I just have a nice story to tell. I'm glad you noticed the plot similarities. I did that on purpose. I was having trouble coming up with my own format, so I just copied mister Kishimoto's and made a few modifications. I'm lazy. I do thank you for being so honest and trying to help. Everything get's alot better later. I already have it written just into part two. Right now, it's at a phase where I was doing alot of rushing and not putting enough consideration into EVERY chapter like I do now. Hope you can excuse my flaws and enjoy the story anyway.


	8. Chapter 8

Hey there people. This is chapter eight. My first big battle. I make alot of these later. You also get alot of info about the plot in the next chapter, along with one of my funnier jokes in the story. I hope you keep reviewing, and reading. God I love you guys.

I dont own Naruto

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Junichi was rather uncomfortable. He had gotten her to calm down. It was a lucky move he had no real confidence in, but it had worked. She had immediately stopped being mad at him. He said some optimistic words, pretended to believe her, and walked off. As far as he knew, he was out of the blaze, and it was all pie from here on out.

The truth was, he would never stop hating his father, and killing him would be the only thing that could make him feel better. He knew that he was only being a whiny little kid about it, but he didn't care. A real man wouldn't have hated so intensely. A real man would have just kept on trying to make the best of each day. Junichi hated the real man's way of doing things.

They trudged on, well into the sand country now. The endless dunes rose and fell with nothing but sand as far as the unaided eye could see. The rest of the trip would be this way. Uneventful. Boring. Junichi only had his notebook and had eventually started practicing with his Hitae-ate jutsu. Ayane's theory turned out to be workable, but extremely hard. Time after time, Junichi was forced to sit down and look for an easier way, but could find none. So, with leaden legs and he got up and , time and time again, practiced the same jutsu.

After another week of traveling, they came at last to the hidden sand, in all its weather beaten glory. Their first stop was to an inn, where they all had to share one room due to lack of money. Serious rules were put up however, as to the lines of the girl's side and the guy's side…it was an interesting experience to say the least.

The next day the went straight to the kazekage's office to receive they're immediate orders. It took them long enough just to get through the village and then they had to be examined by the guards at the office. It was an impressive building, compared to the other ones at least. It seemed less cracked and worn down than the others. Once they were done with security, they walked into the kazekage's office and he showed that he was less than happy with the team that had been sent.

"This is a genin team!" he yelled "Has Kohona stooped so low as to start sending teams of children out now?"

Junichi and Saotome were slightly pissed off at the comment but made no reply and let Kanoe speak.

"Kazekage-sama," Kanoe started, trying to sound as convincing as possible "We can understand why you would be upset, but these are no ordinary genin. If you wish, you may put us to a test to prove our worth. I can guarantee that we'll be able to pass it"

The Kazekage considered for a second. It wasn't a bad idea. He just didn't know what test to give them. Sandstorms? Too easy…a battle against…

"Allright" Kazekage said, finally making up his mind "You are to battle Gaara of the desert, if he deems you worthy, you may proceed with you mission"

The entire team turned pale, except for Junichi, who was getting one of his dreams fulfilled by being able to battle the famous Gaara. The only thing that could have made him happier would have been if he had been able to battle Kohona's Naruto, or sharingan Kakashi…Hell, he would have even fought Jiraiya, knowing he would most undoubtedly lose that fight.

The team left graciously, heading to the spot where they were to meet Gaara for their fight. When they got there, they found that Gaara wasn't there and was just now getting word of his order. Kanoe decided to take it upon herself to give her team some helpful advice.

"Allright guys" she started off "Gaara is very dangerous and uses sand to attack, as I'm sure you're all aware. Just use water jutsu's to slow his sand down and don't get yourselves killed. If you find yourself in a tight spot, gather around me or Junichi because both of us can find ways to get through his sand. Saotome, figure out his song as quick as possible and cover Ayane to the best of your abilities. Junichi, you concentrate on defense because you can blast through his sand and I'll go straight for Gaara because my wires are less effective on sand"  
Everyone nodded quietly, including Junichi who could find no flaw in the plan. They were using each persons abilities to their advantage and using their knowledge of Gaara's techniques against them.

"Very good plan, but I think it'll take more than that to defeat me" Was all they heard as the red headed vessel of shukaku appeared before them.

"Gaara of the desert…I've been wanting to do this for a long time." Junichi said with a large grin on his face "My only word of advice is to not underestimate us"

They were standing in the desert on the outskirts of the village. The Kohona genin were standing on one side together while the Gaara stood on the other side calmly. Without word Saotome began to put everything he knew about Gaara together on his guitar. The battle plan started to come to him in bits and he told his teammates silently all they would need to know.

Junichi and Kanoe started to rush Gaara from opposite sides at the same time. Sand rose up to meet them as they ran. Junichi simply avoided it, trying not to give away his secret techniques just yet. Kanoe performed several hand seals and with a shout a blast of water shot toward the sand, making it slow down and become heavier. Junichi ran in and threw one of his black fuuma shuriken at Gaara, who's sand shield rose up to meet it. Junichi grinned as he raised up both hands and with a blast of chakra, blew the shield apart causing Gaara's eyes to widen. Kanoe had managed to run around behind Gaara and threw a few explosive kunai at his back. The sand shield automatically rose up to block the attack. Just then Saotome jumped out from under the sand and threw more explosive kunai at him. Gaara lifted a hand and a wall of sand rose up and caught those kunai as well.

Gaara was slightly surprised at how they worked together. The white haired boy was able to blow his sand apart without hand seals and the dark haired boy was able to read his movements, making him an elusive little target. The older jounin was dodging his sand and slowing it down, mostly serving as a decoy and supporting when she could. Her main purpose was to keep the sand occupied. Gaara was still defending with his sand though, and they seemed to be at a stalemate until Gaara started attacking that is. Junichi flew into the air as several spikes rose toward him. He performed a few hand seals in midair and the forehead protectors he had collected stuck to his arm as a shield and he used it to fend off any other spikes or sand blasts that came at him. Kanoe was forced to take out her wires and cut the sand apart slowly in order to keep it from reaching her. Saotome had his guitar out and was playing madly as the sand rose to attack him, but it was just too slow to catch the sloppy guitar player.

The group all stood in front of Gaara. Nothing was working. Junichi wasn't using all of his power but neither was Gaara. Then the gigantic wave of sand rose up over them. The entire team except Junichi cowered back. He stood fast in front of them, gathering as much chakra as he could muster. At the last minute he blasted a gigantic hole in the sand wave, allowing them all to get out safely. Junichi took Ayane and ran at Gaara. As the sand shield started to form, Junichi blasted it away and Ayane threw several explosive kunai at Gaara. Gaara was reforming his shield when the kunai disappeared and suddenly lodged themselves in his back. His eyes widened as they suddenly exploded, causing a large cloud of dust.

The Kohona genin were ready to celebrate when suddenly the sand rose all around them and captured them all. Gaara stood there with his hand outstretched, most of his sand armor gone.

"You did well, but not nearly good enough for the mission you're currently on" He remarked coolly as the pressure began to build up on them "You all need to go back to the basics"

Suddenly, without warning Junichi burst out of his sand prison and landed lightly on the ground, his hair covering his eyes.

"I don't think you understand the gravity of the situation" Junichi said with a creepy tone to his voice "I am Junichi, the most powerful genin in Kohona. I refuse to give up this mission. I will test my superior techniques against you and I will defeat you here on this day. Be on your toes, Gaara of the sand!"

In a sudden burst of chakra, he was gone. Suddenly he appeared in front of Gaara and delivered a quick blow to the face that laid him down flat. Junichi was ready to gloat when the body turned into sand and the ground rose and pierced his stomach. The real Gaara appeared out of the sand in front of him and looked down at him with malice.

"You're techniques are good, and you talk big, but you're nothing more than a simple genin" Gaara said uncaringly as he watched the boy fall to his knees, coughing up blood.

"You…you think that's it?" Junichi stained to say "I must say, it takes more than that to defeat me" at this point he stood up, his eyes glaring with killer intent as he began walking forward "You're good Gaara…but you're sand cant protect you from my ninjutsu. I have slaved, put my blood into everything I've ever done. There is no possible way you can defeat me"

Gaara smirked as he performed a chain of hand seals "_SAND DRAGON BLAST_" he yelled as three gigantic dragons made of sand rose out of the ground around Junichi.

In a flash, Junichi was running up the backs of the dragons. As they lunged at him, he jumped, causing one to crash and destroy the other. As he landed on the last remaining dragon, it rose further and further into the air. Junichi climbed to the highest point he possibly could before jumping into the air and coming down into a dive straight at Gaara. Slowly his arms started to glow with a blue flame as chakra shot out of his palms as he plummeted down. Gaara called up his sand wall and made it as thick and hard as he knew was possible. Junichi soared down, his body starting to glow blue as he kept drilling away at the sand shell, then with a tremendous impact he landed, causing the sand to blow all over the place.

Without warning, Saotome, Ayane, and Kanoe were released from their sand prisons. Each looked in awe at the gigantic cloud of dust that had formed.

"Is…Is he still…alive?" Ayane managed to stammer with tears in her eyes. She turned to Kanoe "Tell me! Is he dead?"

Kanoe looked just as shocked as anyone. "I don't know Ayane…I don't know if either of them survived that. For all we know that might have been a suicide attack"

"No" Saotome said quite suddenly and firmly "They're both alive, and Junichi's running this way because Gaara has unleashed his shukaku"

Sure enough, Junichi cane barreling out of the dust cloud at full speed. Most of his shirt seemed to be torn up, and scratches and cuts covered his chest, the only major injury he had was the gaping hole in his stomach that still stayed there.

"Quick!" he yelled as he finally reached them "There's not much time! I have a summoning that can beat him down, but I'm running low on chakra from that last attack and I need all of you to lend me yours!"  
All three of them nodded in agreement as they started to channel their chakra into him. He took a kunai and gashed his hand, making the blood sacrifice, which seemed a lot more than one would normally need. He then performed the hand seals in quick succession.

"_ART OF THE DRAGON SUMMONING_" he yelled as a gigantic bolt of lightning erupted from the blood and reached toward the sky. Junichi ran and jumped on it and climbed to the top of the sky with it just in time to see the dust clear, and Shukaku standing right there, with all it's evil glory.

"**YOU THINK YOU CAN STOP ME WITH A MERE BOLT OF LIGHTNING?**" The Shukaku bellowed, **"YOU ARE NOTHING MORE THAN A PATHETIC HUMAN! WHAT COULD YOU DO TO ME?"**

Just then, the lightning bold formed into a green and yellow dragon, which roared mightily, sending shivers up the Shukaku's spine. Junichi stood on top of the dragon's head and directed it at the raccoon demon and with a roar; it turned into a bolt of lightning and shot towards it.

The Shukaku saw the attack coming and swiped at the bolt of lightning. The bolt only wrapped around the hand and then moved up and around its neck, strangling it slowly as it changed back into a dragon. The Shukaku slashed wildly with its free hand and landed a few good blows while the dragon fought back with all its might.

Junichi ran down the dragon's back toward the Shukaku. He could see Gaara's inanimate torso sticking up from the demons head and ran straight for it. As he got into proximity he gathered chakra into his palm and with one final shot, blasted Gaara directly, causing the Shukaku to turn to sand and the dragon to dissapear in a bright flash.

Kanoe led Saotome and Ayane over the dune to see what had happened. Lying in a big crater was Gaara of the sand, and the nameless genius. Slowly, Gaara managed to stand up, as did Junichi. They walked toward each other with bad limps and both were apparently near fainting.

"You…fight…as well as any jounin I've ever met" Gaara panted as they reached each other "You…are definitely…worthy of serving the sand…anytime…in fact, I would be honored…if…you could help to teach me… of your techniques…"

"My techniques…are for anyone to learn…and I will teach…anyone with the passion to learn…" Junichi breathed, a hand over is bleeding stomach. Then he clasped Gaara's hand and held in front of them at eye level. "From now on…we are friends… rivals… and blood brothers… we have fought, and thus, sealed a sacred pact…from this day on…we will compete to best each other always… and we will be forever allies"

"I accept this pact," Gaara said with a rare smile on his face as he fell backwards, unconscious. Junichi only managed to look up at his team and smile warmly at him, as if all his dreams had come true in an instant, when he too, fell down into the sand and slipped into unconsciousness.

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Alrighty, that was fun. Next chapter: THE MISSION REVEALED! PEACE OUT!


	9. Chapter 9

I LIIIIIIVE!

Hidy ho there everybody. I hope you all had a good day because I sure as hell did. I only woke up seven hours ago and it's nine oclock where I'm at. My writing of this story has slowed down considerably because I'm waiting for the manga to come out and I want to get just this one part out before I go in with my pants down. That's right, soon I'll be leaving lord Kishimoto's storyline behind and begin peeing directly into the wind without any plan to get out of the way. In other words, it'll start suckin. But don't worry, you people will have a while before you get to that. You're all still in the sand country tryin to figure out what the hell you're doing. Well here the mission is finally revealed! Hope you enjoy, if you don't, its not my loss.

I don't own naruto, Lord Kishimoto, stock shares, a fish to put in my fishbowl, water to put in my fishbowl, the ability to whistle, enough hygene to keep my parents off my back, and enough shiny things to make women want to be around me.

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Junichi awoke in the hospital. He knew it was a hospital before he opened his eyes because of the smell of sterilized everything. Funny how the cleanest place possible smells so bad. As soon as he tried to move he stopped and lay back down, deciding that obeying the wave of constant pain he was in was more important than acting macho. He looked over to his left and saw an IV sticking into his arm. Being as gentle as he had ever been in his life, he slowly took it out and rested his head back down. He looked to his right and saw his entire team asleep in various chairs. He decided to play a rather cruel practical joke on them.

Junichi layed down and pretended to be asleep. Now the tricky part would come. He found the pulse monitor connected around his wrist and undid it in such a fashion that it looked like it was still on but wasn't actually reading the pulse. The meter flat lined almost instantly. That woke them up.

Ayane was the first to run over to him. She checked the monitor again and ran and woke everyone up. They quietly gathered around his bed, staring down in disbelief. Junichi couldn't die. He defeated Gaara of the sand! How could he die now?

Slowly Kanoe turned off the monitor and ushered them out of the room. They were just getting to the door when they heard a weak voice talk to them.

"What, you're just going to leave me here for the creepy old male nurses to "prepare" for my funeral already?" Junichi asked with a smile "C'mon people, you know I wouldn't keel over that easily!"

Instantly they all ran to him and with tears in their eyes hugged him all around. It was possibly the happiest moment in Junichi's life. He felt like he had a family. He felt like his soul mattered to somebody. It was definitely a good feeling.

Then the nurses burst in with an electric machine. Before Junichi had a chance to tell them it was a joke, he felt something cold on his chest and somebody yell, "CLEAR" before the electricity hit him. He jolted up in bed and nearly jumped off but they restrained him. Remember that good feeling? Turns out it was just a disguise the emotion known as "pissed" was using to play a cruel joke on Junichi as well.

After the nurses left, Junichi sat there with his hair standing on end while he starred at a wall with his eyes crossed. His left hand seemed to be twitching uncontrollably and he was faintly aware of the fact that he smelled something cooking. HeWAS aware of the yelling he was almost sure was directed at him.

"YOU GODDAMED BASTARD, HOW COULD YOU PLAY SUCH A JOKE ON US!" Kanoe yelled at him. In all honesty Junichi couldn't blame her. He quickly tried to scan the room for anything bat-like in density "WE WERE WORRIED SICK FOR THREE DAYS! IF I HAD BEEN THOSE NURSES, I WOULD HAVE SHOCKED YOUR ASS AGAIN FOR BEING A GODDAMED SON OF A BITCH!"

Meanwhile, Saotome was in his own little corner of the room laughing his brains out. It would later be asked if he actually did, and he did not, but he did puke in a trashcan. He laughed for what seemed like hours, and for years to come it would be Junichi's single greatest achievement in the entertainment industry.

Ayane was torn; she didn't know whether to laugh with Saotome or to yell at Junichi with Kanoe. So, not knowing what to do, she went and got Gaara, who had been waiting around in the hospital, much to everyone's disbelief.

Gaara walked into the room as emotionlessly as possible. He had managed to drag Kankuro and Temari with him and they walked in silently. They all stopped and stared at Junichi, who was looking at them as if he didn't really know what was happening, when all of the sudden Gaara began laughing. It wasn't a laugh like Saotome's…It was more like a chuckle that lasted a long time because Gaara didn't really know how to laugh. At that point, Kankuro, Temari, Kanoe, Ayane, and even Saotome, stopped and stared at him. This was by far, one of the most rare things they would ever see. Not only that, it was kind of creepy.

"It isn't" Junichi said, stopping every once in a while because smoke was coming out of his mouth when he talked "It isn't funny…I could have-could have died. You-you all can go to-go to hell"

Everyone just cracked up at this. Throughout the entire hospital wing, some faint trace of the laughter could be heard. Somewhere, the nurses were talking about what they had done accidentally. From them, the word would spread through the whole village rather quickly, until Junichi became the official joke of the week.

Junichi stood up in his normal clothes about an hour later. He was feeling a lot better, but the twitching wasn't wearing off and didn't show any sign of doing so for a while.

"Allright" Junichi started, eager to get their little laugh fest behind them "I'd like to introduce you to our team. The guy with the guitar and the dazed expression is Saotome, the small girl with the blond hair is Ayane, and the other female who seems to forget things easily is Kanoe, our team leader."

Saotome was the first to go up and shake everyone's hands. He started out fine. He shook Gaara's hand without any sign of fear. He looked at Kankuro's makeup strangely for a second but ignored it and shook his hand warmly and even gave him a hearty pat on the back. He was doing well until he got to Temari and even that started out ok. He shook her hand politely and then he did it. He did possibly the stupidest thing he could possibly do. He said it. He looked Temari, Gaara, the vessel of the Shukaku's sister and said: "You've got a nice rack"

That day, Saotome learned one of the most important lessons of his life. Some women were kinder than others, but most of them didn't like their chest being referred to as "racks". At first he didn't know what was happening. Then he felt a rush of air and the ground outside the third story window rush up at him. That's right. Temari threw him out the window of the third story of the hidden village of sand's hospital. Saotome was lucky though. On his way down, his shirt got caught on a flagpole and he got stuck. Much to his dismay nobody came and got him. Eventually Temari came and made him apologize formally for what he said and then, using her fan, she literally blew him off the flagpole and into some region of the city. He would come back the next day whistling but would never actually say what had happened to him while he had been gone.

Everyone else finished their introductions normally, now slightly afraid of Temari, but more or less at ease because they had more tact than Saotome.

"I wanted to congratulate you personally" Gaara said, his usual emotionless face on "The Kazekage has granted you permission to carry out the mission at hand, and because we have free time, we are to accompany you"

Now Kanoe stepped forward. She was the team leader and she had to do her share to prove it. "We thank you very much for your kindness" she said with a bow, though she didn't really think it was nessecary "We humbly accept your help in our mission and are honored to work with you on this assignment"

"Listen lady," Kankuro spoke up "We're doing this because Gaara made a friend, and he's scary as hell, and if you haven't noticed, sand is everywhere. Not a comforting feeling"

Temari was about to slap Kankuro upside his empty head when Gaara spoke up.

"Kankuro, be quiet" He said rather nonchalantly "Besides, you have to sleep sometime. I don't. Hope you're feeling comfortable"

Ayane smiled nicely and said, "You three are funny! Way funnier than Saotome kun when he's had his caffeine!"

Everyone rolled his or her eyes. Gaara even looked at everyone else and tried to copy the gesture. It kind of looked like he was having a seizure but at least the guy was trying, and nobody faulted him on it.

"Well, I hate to stop this joyous occasion" Junichi said tersely "But I would like to find out what are mission is. I hear the pay for these missions is rather good"

"Very well" Gaara said, as he sat down, getting down to business "Our mission is to silence a small group of missing nin who have taken to acts of terrorism in the hidden sand. We believe their goal is to overrun the shinobi of the village and take it over, thus making it their own hidden village. The missing nin in question are supposedly very powerful, though their numbers are small. We believe them to be hidden in a network of tunnel systems under the desert on the outskirts of the village."

"Interesting…" Said Kanoe "Before we get started, we all need to get aquainted with each other's fighting styles. We'll take three days of cross team training before we begin the recon work to find the entrances to the tunnel network"

Everyone nodded. And unanimously decided to begin right away. Temari and Kankuro hadn't seen the fight between Gaara and Junichi and were quite astonished when they had heard the news. Gaara had, of course, healed in one day. They were very curious as to what kind of techniques he had that could beat Gaara.

They walked to a training ground that was empty. Since Saotome wasn't there, Kanoe stepped in for him to make the numbers even. The field was set. Each team stood on an opposite side, ready to attack at a moment's notice. Junichi's blood was pumping; something he would later find out could be quite dangerous.


	10. Chapter 10

Hidy ho there everybody! I was so happy when I checked my reviews today! So many reviews, so little time. Though I do have some points to clear up.

First off, at the time I was writing this, I had Junichi envisioned as a completely different character and ended up having to go through and edit these chapter majorly. At first, I was going to make him a complete psycho, but I mellowed him out instead. If there's any confusion, it's because I didn't edit properly. Sorry bout that.

Secondly: The timeline. My initial envisioning was hazy. I started off without knowing where I was and by the time I got to this point, I thought I was going to do it before the Sasuke incident, but after the chuunin exam. Later on, I decided I wanted to follow Master Kishimoto's plot and entertwine with it more. I ended up writing the chuunin exam and the Sasuke incident. I didn't want to start trying to go through with my own plot just yet. I wanted to set the stage the way I wanted it, instead of carrying on with what Master Kishimoto left me. Any confusion is a serious result of bad editing. I apologize completely for it.

thirdly: This is one of, if not my favorite chapterI have ever written in this story. It's the first hint at romance that I ever really put in the story. The thing with Junichi and Ayane wasn't a real romance event in my eyes, and this is. I just want you to know that I do listen to music while I write, and I was probably listening to Slipknot, A7X, Atreyu, Counting Crows, Third Eye Blind, or The Blood Brothers when I wrote it. Normally I would throw on some Brand New for the romance, but I slip up alot and well...things happen. My bad.

I dont own Naruto, any of the bands mentioned above, or the ability to tapdance. Enjoy the freakin story and review like a frightened idiot.

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Training was awesome. Both teams were mostly long-range people. Temari and Junichi were the ones who packed the power though. Saotome proved to be a hand-to-hand specialist, his ability to see into the future coming into play. Ayane wasn't good for a whole lot. They kept trying to find something for her to specialize in, but it just wasn't working for her. They decided in the end to just train her in taijutsu so that she could go to the frontlines with Saotome. Gaara and Kankuro were almost chiefly used as defense. Gaara could rip through people like rags, but they refused to put him alone and they needed defense, which he was extremely good at. Kankuro was pissed that they thought of his puppets only as fodder to block shots. It pissed him off to no end. But Temari, like any good older sibling, beat him into agreeing.

Junichi was training with Gaara a lot. He trained with everyone really, trying to master a few key jutsus that he thought he might need. He began teaching them the secrets of his chakra expelling techniques. It was basically tree climbing or water walking taken to the extreme. Junichi was pushing it to unseen levels though, and could even levitate for short amounts of time. He was revealing all that was asked, and learning all he could. Kanoe was indifferent. She was a jounin, and a pretty good one at that. She was mostly offensive, but as the team leader, she tried to focus on making decisions.

As far as everyone was getting along…well lets say that it was generally good for everyone, except Saotome. Temari would seem to go out of her way to beat him extra bad. Instead of even using her fan for ninjutsu, she just hit him with the hard edges. Gaara was on good terms with everyone, and seemed to be even trying to act more normal. It just came off as extra creepy though. Junichi was kind of like their overlord, and everybody generally wanted to kick his ass while they were training. Outside of training, everything was peachy though. Ayane was trying her hardest to make friends, but the sand and the leaf are very different villages, and her overwhelming good nature just kind of annoyed everyone. Guess they aren't that different after all…

The day came when they finally had to start reconnaissance. They were all put in teams of two that would take shifts alternately. Much to Temari's dismay, she was paired with Saotome. They were mixing strengths, not how much each one liked each other. Junichi and Ayane ended up in a team as well. Gaara was put with Kankuro because that was all they had left. The idea was to either watch the desert, or to actually venture into it. They had no clue how long this would last.

Junichi volunteered himself and Ayane to be the first ones to go out. He had planned to circle the village for a while, thinking that was the likeliest place for the terrorists to put their tunnels. Early in the morning, he and Ayane set out with a single pack of supplies between them intended to last all day.

They walked in silence in the desert, neither really having anything to say. Junichi regarded Ayane kind of like a dopey little sister, while she was secretly very fond of him. She was moved by his firmness, his stability, despite all that happened to him. She knew that if there was a great war and everyone died, he would be the only one left with the cockroaches. Then the thought of bugs sent shivers up her spine.

Junichi was searching the area as best he could. He took mental notes of places that might have needed more investigation, and when he walked back to the crummy hotel room they had rented with Ayane almost asleep, he laid out his thoughts to Temari and Saotome, who would be next. Temari groaned at having to work with the loser and Saotome was afraid he would get his ass beat.

They next morning they headed out, keeping a sharp eye out or spots that Junichi has mentioned. Most of them turned out to be mirages though, and they were pretty relaxed.

"Hey Temari san" Saotome asked apprehensively "Why aren't you act like most girls tend to?"

Temari glared at him while asking with a threatening voice "Are you calling ME a freak? You're a lazy, creepy, perverted little man!"

"Ok, point well taken" he said with a sigh "I'm just saying you're a lot rougher around the edges than most girls. Do you even wear makeup or anything?"

Temari was about to smash him into little bits when she felt the ground shaking. Almost immediately, both of them were caught in the mouth of a sandworm as it flew upward. Saotome ended up holding its jaws apart by placing his body between them. Temari tried to figure out what to do while she sat on Saotome's stomach to prevent her from falling down its throat.

"WHY THE HELL AREN'T YOU DOING ANYTHING?" Saotome yelled at her "GET ME OUT OF HERE! I SWEAR TO GOD I WON'T ASK YOU ANY QUESTIONS OR LOOK THROUGH YOUR UNDERWEAR EVER AGAIN!"

"I'M THINKING YOU SON OF A BITCH!" she yelled back at him. Then Temari did the only thing she could do. She hugged him close to her and jumped as far away from the worm as she could.

Saotome started playing his guitar wildy on the ride down. Because of the adrenaline pumping, it only took him about halfway down to get it right. Luckily he was able to grab Temari and roll when he hit, so the shock didn't kill them. He then just threw her over his shoulder and began moving madly across the dunes. Every time the worm lunged, he seemed to be a step ahead. Finally after about thirty minutes of running, they lost him and rested down on the sand.

"Why…did you grab me…and help me like that" Temari panted "I'm…perfectly capable…of taking care of myself…thank you"

"Anything…for a pretty girl" Saotome said, equally tired "you don't mind…if I call you pretty…right?"

Temari was about to reply when the sand collapsed under her as the worm suddenly rose up to swallow her whole. Saotome acted instinctively and pulled her out of the way but it was a close one and the worm managed to rip her dress off.

Temari screamed bloody murder. Saotome, not knowing what to do, took a step toward her when the worm rose up again and completely took his pants off, missing only because he had taken that step forward.

This worm had to die. Saotome got his guitar ready, but then the worm came at them again, this time it took his shirt off. Now all hell would have to pay for what that worm did to them. Temari couldn't do much but run because she was trying to cover herself up. Saotome didn't mind it so much and was eventually able to stuff about five explosive tags down the creature's throat.

Saotome tiredly walked up to Temari who was turning bright red. He was in no mood to joke however, and she could tell as he stared into her eyes.

"Allright." He began "We're in the middle of the desert, almost completely naked. We can A) go back and endure the stares and laughs or B) we can wait here until the next team comes out to look for us. I'll let you choose because you seem to be more deeply disturbed by this than me."

Temari knew it would be the end of the world if she walked into the village with her and Saotome in their underwear. She knew the next team was her brothers, so it wasn't that bad. She decided to go with choice B.

The night wore on and they sat there about five feet apart, waiting for Gaara and Kankuro to show up. Neither said a word, or looked at each other. Well, Saotome looked at Temari a couple of times because she knew that she wasn't looking at him. She did have a nice rack after all. Then Saotome realized they had a problem. It was cold. At night the temperature in the desert plummeted to nearly freezing.

"Temari san" Saotome said, knowing he wouldn't like what was coming next "If we don't do anything about this cold, we could die."

"N-no" Temari replied immediately with her teeth chattering, "I k-know what you're t-thinking and the a-answer is n-no."

Saotome tried to be a man about the cold but knew they would die unless something was done.

"We have to do something Temari" he said, trying to be as careful about the subject as possible "We have nothing in are pack for building fires because we were supposed to be back already and we're in the desert. The only thing we have is…"

"I SAID NO YOU PERVERT!" she yelled at him "I KNOW WHAT YOU'RE THINKING AND YOU'RE NOTHING BUT A FILTHY PERVERTED BASTARD!"

"Temari" he said completely seriously "we will die out here. The blood will get too cold in our veins and our hearts will stop. We only have one option. We have to use each other's body heat to keep us warm."

Temari didn't say anything but she knew he was right. Slowly they moved together. Slowly he put his arm around her shoulder, making sure she didn't hit him and she didn't. She then carefully wrapped her arms around his waist. She hated it when other people were right, especially Saotome, and ESPECIALLY in a situation like this.

The night wore on and eventually; they became more comfortable about their current problem. It was almost as if they kind of…enjoyed it. Neither would ever admit it though, and they both knew it.

"Saotome san" Temari said quietly and peacefully "if you tell anybody about this I swear to god I will kill you. You will suffer a fate worse than death. I will torture you. There is no possible way to imagine the amount of pain you will be in."

Saotome chuckled. "I'm not that stupid." He stated with a grin "If I did, your brothers would kill me faster than you could. They look up to you, you know. Even Gaara has some form of respect for you. Or at least, I think its respect. Junichi must have softened him up quite a bit."

"I know they do" she said with a smile as she laid her head on his shoulder, causing Saotome to raise his eyebrows for a second. Its not that he disliked it, it was just so out of character. "But they would understand that I would have to kill you myself. They would only rough you up and let me go in for the torture and kill part."

"That's real comforting," he said sarcastically "And we both know my team wouldn't try to get me out. Junichi would remark about wasted talent and Ayane might cry for a little while. Kanoe would be pissed off because she would have to do the paperwork to get a new genin."

"Its good to know you're loved," Temari said, copying his sarcasm "Especially with the people you trust your life to. But it would be a waste of talent in a sense. You're ability to see into he future is one of the most useful techniques I've ever encountered."

"Well I wish I could say that were true" Saotome said, with a sigh "I can only read and predict what an opponent is likely to do based on they way they act and they fight. I can put the things I observe on the guitar and usually they all fill in together and make a song. If I know the song, I would naturally know what note was next and thus, what attack the enemy will perform. If I don't know the song though, I'm pretty much useless."

"Even still" Temari said with a yawn "your ability to observe things like that is outstanding, and your taijutsu is coming along well. You're only real flaw is your guitar actually. It's too big and hard to carry around. You need something better, or you need to be able to put things together without your guitar."

"Easy for you to say," he said smugly "you're in a whole different playing field. You have that fan that can destroy just about anything and block most attacks. Your taijutsu isn't great but you are able to get yourself out of a sticky situation if need be. Your chakra control is great. I was actually pretty surprised when we were training with Junichi."

"I have my flaws" Temari said tiredly "as do we all. And considering what you can do, you might just be on the same level as me. You're strategic abilities are about average, but they come to you quicker. You're so relaxed that you think clearly in all situations and thus, are able to formulate a more effective plan in tough situations. That in itself puts us at about equal."

Saotome smiled. She really was beautiful, and if you were able to get through all the Temari stuff, she was a really calm and nice person. Not only that, but their styles of fighting complimented each other almost perfectly. She was definitely a person worth having around, even if she did throw him out a window occasionally.

"You're tired," he said calmly as he pulled her down to the sand so they could sleep "I'll let you lay on top of me so that the cold sand doesn't bother you."

"Thanks" Temari mumbled as she moved herself more on top of him while he still kept his arm around her. In a few minutes she was asleep but Saotome remained awake for a while.

For some reason, something in his life wasn't normal anymore. His need for witty humor and sarcasm melted away. His lazy attitude came into question as well. He sat awake staring at the stars and thinking about how he was changing. The question that really bugged him though was why was he changing. He didn't really like change that much, and this had snuck up on him. If only he had a clue as to what it could be…oh well, it could wait until morning, he decided as he slowly drifted off into sleep.

The next morning seemed to come quickly. Saotome woke slowly when he felt something poking him in his rib. He still felt Temari on top of him and assumed it was her, but it persisted. Finally he groggily opened his eyes and saw Kankuro staring at him with hatred in his eyes. Of course, so early in the morning, Saotome didn't quite register what was in front of him and began thinking aloud.

"Damn" He said as he wiped the sleep out of his eyes with his free hand "There's some ugly ass animals out here in the desert."

"Think again you son of a bitch!" Kankuro yelled as he suddenly lifted Saotome up by the neck and punched him in the gut.

Saotome got the idea of what was going on real quick and wormed his way out of Kankuro's grasp with the wind knocked out of him.

"Kankuro san…." He tried to speak "Not…sandworms…no clothes…"

Kankuro decked him across the face, sending him flying back a few feet right over Temari, who was just now waking up. Saotome fell right at the feet of Gaara, who looked down at him evilly.

"You perverted little bastard," he stated with malice in his tone "To think that you would do that to Temari…make no mistake, we will kill you."

Saotome saw the sand gathering around him and quickly ran for it. He was only barely able to dodge most of the attacks that came at him. He had to hand it to the guys for standing up for their sister, but man, this was just plain unfair. The sand was starting to get hot now and every step burned his feet, not to mention the cuts and bruises he was getting from the occasional sand attack. It wasn't long before he was on his knees panting. He felt the chakra from the sand rise up around him. This was the final number of the most witty and sexy genius of Kohona.

Just as he was about to count his final note, he felt a rush of wind and the sand dissipated around him. All he could hear was Temari yelling, though he was so dazed, he didn't know what she was saying at first.

"For the love of Christ!" Temari exclaimed at her brothers "I'm flattered that you guys care about me, but we didn't do anything! The sandworms got my dress and not my skin thanks to Saotome and then they got his and then it got cold and dark! I would have like to have seen what you would have done in that kind of cold!"

"Are you actually defending him?" Kankuro asked incredulously "You know that little creep was thinking about sex the entire time! You said yourself that he was the most annoying and perverted being you had ever met!"

"You know…" Saotome panted, "I'm…standing…right here." Then the sand swallowed him up to his head. Not a real pleasant feeling.

"Do you really think I would let him do anything? You had better not be calling me a slut!" she yelled at him now even angrier "It was cold and we didn't have the stuff to build a fire! And I could have died if it weren't for Saotome san. He may be a loser, but he knows when to control himself."

"Kankuro," Gaara interrupted, "I think she's telling the truth. If they had been doing anything, their clothes would be somewhere near here. Besides, I think we could trust Temari not to give herself up so easily."

"Why thank you Gaara" Temari said as she crossed her arms "I'm glad to see that SOMEBODY doesn't think so little of me. Now if you could, please release Saotome and bring us some clothes…and Gaara, Kankuro, you tell anybody and I swear I'll kill you. I don't care how powerful you are or even the fact that we're family. I'll kill you. Nobody would try to stop me either."

Gaara smirked and Kankuro shivered as they walked back towards the village. Saotome managed to get a hand above the sand and was pulling his way out. He slowly walked over to her.

"Thanks for not letting them kill me" he said "If they hadn't have killed me, they might have ripped my balls off and I just can't have that."

"No problem. We're even now understand." Temari said with a smirk not unlike Gaara's "But I do want to thank you for being mature about the whole situation. I can't see you as the type of person who would get serious about anything, and you proved me wrong."

"Well it wasn't easy" he said with a sarcastic smile "You only laid on a couple of death threats I know you're more than capable of carrying out. Not nearly as bad as that time I was in the war, where I got my fifth scar with the natives tried to torture me and get information."

"Saotome…" Temari said with a smile "Drop the bullshit. You and I both know that last night was the closest thing to a REAL woman as you'll ever get."

"Well.." Saotome said, "You definitely are the sexiest one thus far. And don't try and say you didn't enjoy it. I know you did. It's only natural around a proven sex machine like myself."

Temari hit him in the face with a smile. He wasn't a half bad guy after all. She might just have to keep in contact with him after this mission was over.

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Shang: I want to start off by telling you how deeply appreciative of you I am. You've been reviewing like a madman and I just freakin love you. That special place in my heart for you is now free of rent for the next month. But I have to say that Gaara is not the kazekage because this is set only a little after when team 7 graduated. The timeline is something I'm not wholly sure about. I don't know why the graduated later, but it has to do with their team. Team seven had a structure to it, and it's easy to see why they were put together. This team...well I'm just not going to tell you. Sorry for the confusion.

Virgil: sooo, an "Inferno" fan. You've got good style my friend. And I like your email address. Most people I know don't know that's his real name. But I have to tell ya. My timeline was seriously screwed up when I wrote this. I humbly beg for forgiveness. But top thirty? Damn...Considering how you like the next few chapters I just might make it I think. It's a hate it or love it situation. I hope you love it.

It's been fun, I freakin love you guys. I hope you keep reading because I've only barely gotten started. Peace out.


	11. Chapter 11

Well, its time to get in for good old updating.

Allright, to clear up any confusion, It was probably like four in the morning when I went back and edited alot of this and I probably did it really badly. Anything that seems out of place is probably a result of too much caffeine and too litle common sense. I deeply apologize for any of it.

I wanted to take this time to do something I never thought I would. I'm dedicating this chapter to Shang, who has kept reading and kept reviewing.I love you like a brotha...from anotha motha? I might just be adopted. Part of me hopes so...Anyway, this is to my main man Shang, hope you enjoy it buddy cause it doesn't do a whole lot for the storyline, except Junichi. It was a screw off chapter, like the one I just got finished writing. I laugh at the people who think I try to make sense but just come up short.

I dont own Naruto. One time, I thought I owned some music, but the IRS and several other organizations I can't pronounce thought otherwise.

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Junichi sat at the small wooden table in their room with a map of the village sprawled out on it. Kankuro and Gaara had walked in and walked back out without saying a word. Ayane and Kanoe had tried to question them, but no response came from them as they walked out the door. A couple of hours later, they walked back in with Saotome and Temari. All of them stood there quietly. Junichi looked over at Saotome and Temari who were staring at the ground and and at Gaara and Kankuro who were trying to busy themselves with something or another.

Junichi burst out laughing. It wasn't hard to put two and two together from the looks on their faces. He didn't know exactly what had happened, but he could ballpark it, and it was funny all right…that is, until Temari slammed the metal side of her fan into his chest and proceeded to beat him into the floor of their crummy apartment room. After all was said and done, Junichi wasn't laughing anymore. In fact, nothing would be funny for a while, he decided.

"Look here," he said, pointing to the map after he regained his composure "We found an entrance into a tunnel network in the village. We don't know if it's the one the enemy uses, but we do know that someone is down there."

Saotome slammed his fist on the table. "DON'T YOU THINK YOU SHOULD HAVE TRIED TO FIGURE THAT OUT BEFORE YOU SENT PEOPLE OUT INTO THAT GODFORSAKEN DESERT?" he yelled angrily.

"Calm down Saotome" Kanoe said as calmly as possible "It was just a mistake is all. We'll begin infiltration tomorrow. I suggest you all spend the day doing anything you want, because tomorrow, we might not all come back."

Everyone agreed and went their separate ways. They all debated what they would do that day. It might be their last days together, and they wanted to make them mean something.

Saotome took a walk along the wall surrounding the village. He stared out at the endless dunes and contemplated his life, his abilities, and his own self. If he were to do it right, he would be able to beat Junichi. Junichi was tough, but he wasn't unbeatable. Saotome had noticed that while Junichi was possibly more powerful than Kanoe, he wasn't a strategist. He simply rushed in and beat his opponents down with raw power and skill. If he had the right skills and the right plan, Saotome could take Junichi down.

Temari walked up silently behind Saotome. She couldn't get the incident from last night out of her head. She knew that Saotome was an idiot and a genius. The problem was that lying there next to him came too easy to her. Something about his nature put her at ease. Unless he pissed her off, she could manage to keep her cool for the most part. It was intriguing to her the way she was changing around him. She looked at the possibility that she liked him. It would certainly explain everything, but she just wasn't sure. She watched him stare off at nothing and wondered what he was thinking.

"I was remembering Kohona" he said to her without turning, knowing both what she was wondering and that she was there "In this place, there is only sand and in my home, there is only forest. Yet, both are beautiful in their own respects."

Temari thought on his words for a moment. They were very different people. He was passive and calm, while she was short tempered and cocky. Their styles of fighting were from far away and from up close. They were almost complete opposites, yet they complimented each other and gave each other structure where it was needed.

"But the desert and the forest can't coexist." Temari said flatly as she stepped up beside him and stared out. "The desert is harsh and uncaring. It can't support a forest or any plants for that matter. It is a barren and ugly place."

"I wouldn't be so sure" Saotome said with a smirk, sensing that she meant something more than said, then he thought back to his previous comment and groaned mentally at what he had gotten himself into unwittingly. Just had to go with it now. "There is a place where the desert and the forest melt into each other. They don't just end abruptly and form a border for each you know. I passed it on my way here. A perfect mesh of desert and forest."

"It doesn't matter" Temari snapped back, a little angry at how calm he was talking about such a sensitive matter "Even if they do blend perfectly at one spot, desert and forest are still different. The place you speak of is neither desert or forest, but something different altogether."

"You can believe that" Saotome said, trying to get into this philosophical stuff "But I don't think you really want to. Deep down I think you want to believe that both elements can be together in harmony. It's easier to just accept it. I've seen it and I know that it's there. Even if you haven't seen it though, you can still believe in it, and if you do so, you make it real for yourself, which is all that matters in the end."

Temari looked at his face, looking out at the barren expanse. She was slightly shocked at his answer to say the least, but she knew that he was right.

"I think I would like to see this place" Temari said calmly "Because whatever I believe may not be as good as the real thing. To see the real thing might be a thousand times better than just wishing it's real."

"It might very well be" Saotome said softly as he gently took her hand in his and then looked into her eyes "One day we'll go there, and you'll see that the beauty of both can become the beauty of one."

They stared into each other's eyes for a long time. It was so peaceful standing on that wall. On this particular day there seemed to be no sentries posted there for some reason and the wind gently blew at them. They then stepped closer to each other and looked into the desert, finding the beauty that they both dreamed of now.

Junichi stood atop a lone watchtower on the opposite side of town. He believed that his power would serve him well. He was confident. The problem was the dreams he was having lately. The voices he was hearing. Dark, creepy voices that whispered evil things into his mind plagued his thoughts in waves. There were two voices in all. One was a female voice that would seductively whisper about drinking blood. The last one was usually quiet. It was a male voice, but it was humanlike in quality. It was a calm voice. A voice of reason that spoke of simple things. It spoke of opportunities that could have been had. It was this calm, regular voice that scared Junichi the most.

Gaara stood there watching him. Ever since the fight Gaara had noticed a strange part of Junichi. The way he fought, the techniques he used…and that one little outburst during their fight led Gaara to have his suspicions about Junichi.

"Does the shukaku ever talk to you?" Junichi asked quietly "Does he ever tell you to do things, or try to get you to kill people you don't want to."

"Yes" Gaara said calmly "On several occasions I have had to restrain my self from killing Temari and Kankuro. He urges me and he is very powerful. Why do you ask?"

"I think you're the only person I can trust this with…" he said slowly, running a hand through his white hair "I've been having nightmares where a single pairs of eyes stare at me. The pair is wine red and slitted, the eyes of some sort of demon. Sometimes I can hear them talking to me. They tell me to kill people, to bathe in blood, to enjoy what little time I have left…I don't know if I'm a danger to my team or not. I have no clue what to do."

"Sounds like the work of demons to me" Gaara said flatly, showing no signs of compassion or any feelings really "The only other person I know of with a demon inside him is Uzumaki Naruto. Within him is sealed the Kyuubi, a most fearsome demon. From the sounds of it though, you have no seals, and multiple demons are plaguing you. It's a most interesting matter I would really know nothing about. You should probably look into your family's history or just ask your parents."

"My mother is dead and my father is…" Junichi said, stopping and realizing what he was saying before continuing "Still alive…and was known for great and evil power that took several villages to drive him off…"

"That," Gaara said with a slight smirk "would be the best place to start. If I were to guess though, I would say your father conferred with demons and now, because of his blood, they are attracted to you. They can be either a weapon or a curse. I would try and take the time to train and learn of them if I were you…And the female member of your team is heading up here. I shall make my leave."

And with that, Gaara disappeared in sand just as Ayane climbed up. She looked like she had been training and working hard but once again, to no avail.

"Hey," she said cheerfully "What are you doing up here all by yourself. I figured you would be training or talking to Gaara kun or Saotome kun."

"Here," he said flatly handing her a old looking book "It's a book about seals and various sealing arts. For some reason, it's a skill I cannot master, no matter how hard I try. I think, because you cannot master normal skills, this might suit you much better. To be able to seal would be a great asset to our team. You should look into it."

"Thank you Junichi kun…" She said almost sadly, because he had stated so plainly that she was weak "…I know I'm not strong now, but I will be! I won't be just dead weight to you or Saotome kun ever again. It might take me a little while longer than you two, but I'll work as hard as I can, I promise!"

Junichi looked over and noticed she had tears in her eyes, he groaned at having to face another one of these situations. Were all females this troublesome? Temari didn't seem to be. Temari was a nice, solid, dependable woman with good strength. Why couldn't all women in the world be more like Temari and less like the little emotion bomb that was standing next to him?

"You do your best and that's all anyone can ever ask of you" Junichi said without emotion, trying to stop the tears before he got into it deep "If you do you're best and still fail, then it isn't your fault. After giving it all you have and that isn't enough, then nobody can blame you, and you can get up again and keep giving it your all."

"Thank you Junichi kun." Ayane said as she suddenly hugged his arm "I promise I'll do my best and make all of you proud of me."

Junichi's first thought was shit. He looked back to the time in the forest and now realized that she thought there was some sort of emotional attachment between them. This would not be easy. He would rather have faced a thousand jounins and a hokage than have to deal with this crap.

"I'd start reading that book if I were you" Junichi said, trying to break her away from him "I wouldn't start practicing just yet, but reading up would be good."

"I'll do that" Ayane said with a nod and she then walked back down the way she had came.

Kankuro sat on a bench and stared at the side of a building. It was just then that his sister and that Saotome boy caught his eye. They were walking down the street silently holding hands.

Kankuro immediately jumped up and was about to run after them and kick the shit out of Saotome when sand swirled around his feet and stuck them into the ground. He was caught. He looked over and saw Gaara sitting on the same bench idly.

"What are you doing?" Kankuro exclaimed "We have to go and beat Saotome up for making moves on Temari!"

"No." Gaara said simply "Temari is a grown woman and she can handle herself. Besides, I think it's time she had more contact with males her age. After all she is a woman, and women, from what I understand, like to attach themselves emotionally to men."

"But…but…but" Kankuro was stuttering. The idea of Temari going out with someone as stupid and annoying as Saotome astounded him. It was just plain creepy.

"No butts." Gaara stated firmly "We let Temari have what she wants. Don't try to break them up either. My word is final. Why don't you find yourself a female? I'm sure it wouldn't hurt you."

"Oh yeah?" Kankuro said rather childishly "Well what about you? You need a woman worse than I do! Why don't YOU go and find one? Unless…you're too scared to ask one or something."

"Don't be a fool Kankuro." Gaara retorted, "Even if there was a woman who wasn't petrified at my sight, do you actually think that such things matter to me? And I would not be afraid of a simple female. The thought is preposterous."

"Really now?" Kankuro asked smugly "If its nothing to you, why don't you try and find one. There are plenty of women around, and you can even look for one when we get to Kohona again. I think you're nothing but a big chicken!"

At that point Kankuro started strutting around flapping his arms wildly and making chicken noises, attracting the stares of many people. Some stopped for photos and one threw a dollar at him. In the end Gaara submerged him up to the neck with sand and walked off calmly as Kankuro yelled at him. They would definitely be ready for the mission tomorrow.

* * *

Shang: Thanks for clearin it up buddy. It disturbed me a great deal. I just didn't know if you know because well...I didn't know if you knew. Just wanted to be sure. I still want some of those meds though...I totally understand altering what should and shouldn't be possible to fit into your story. I'vedone that at least four times in this story. It just gave me the gibblies and I wanted to know if you got the same vibe.


	12. Chapter 12

GATHER AND REJOICE, FOR I HAVE RETURNED AT LAST FROM FAR AWAY LANDS!

Hey there people. Did you miss me? You better have. I have to apologize for the week without updating. I ran into some unforseen trouble and ended up without my own computer for a while. I've got it all squared away now and I don't plan to be away that long again. Now on to more pressing buisness.

I've got a bone to pick with the 241 people who have hit this story and not reviewed. I know Shang's been reviewin, and he's my official homie. As for the rest of you...I'm very dissapointed. I need your reviews. From now on, I'm gonna need some extra reviews to update. Shang doesn't count because he already updates. Sorry man, I just need diversity. Right now I'm going to give you a double update to apologize for being away without telling you but just know that non-reviewers...you have been warned...Hope you enjoy!

I don't own Naruto, or much for that matter. One time I thought I owned something, but then it turned into one of those 'area/period in time of the dead' movies, except with lawyers and angry japanese people. Don't worry, we settled it without automatic weapons.

* * *

Junichi was in complete darkness, walking towards absolutely nothing, through absolutely nothing. To his right a large luxurious looking couch and a beautiful woman in a red dress appeared out of what appeared to be smoke. The woman had long red hair and wine red eyes. Her skin was very pale and her dress showed a lot of cleavage. She had a strange aura about her.

"Come over here boy," The woman said seductively as she patted an empty spot of couch right next to her "I don't bite unless I'm hungry."

"Who are you and what the hell do you want with me," Junichi said as he stood in front of her calmly "Are you one of the ones who has been talking to me?"

"Ahhhh… so you do know me. I'm so glad we could finally meet formally Junichi." The woman said with a playful grin revealing her enlarged canines "You may simply call me Eva. If we get to know each other well, I might tell you my real name."

"Why are you here?" Junichi asked simply "What do you want with me? What is this place?"

"We are inside your own mind having a discussion." Eva said as she stretched across the couch "It is as the Gaara boy guessed. By the way, congratulations on beating him. It was no easy feat without our help. But back to topic, I am here because of your father. A long time ago he gave the demon king the soul of some woman in exchange for the power to pass into our realm. When he came over, thousands of demons challenged him. He defeated most of the minor ones. Since he was the most powerful human we had encountered in a while, we honored him. While he may not have been as strong as our upper echelon of demons, he was skilled for a human, and thus deserved respect for it. After many journeys in our land he proposed that he enlist the help of us, using his body as a vessel, and we could once again make our return to the human world."

"What does that have to do with me?" Junichi asked coldly "And there are demons here. The Kyuubi was a great demon that plagued my home before my father left."

"Ahhhh…the Kyuubi demon" Eva purred in her own seductive way "He is a demon of your world. More powerful than many of our greatest warriors. He had never even seen the demon land though. But I digress once again. I am here because I have agreed to join with you. I been watching you for a long time and I have decided that it is time that my power is granted to yours."

"You're here to help me?" Junichi asked warily "Then how do I become stronger? Is there any way to give my teammates this ability that has been handed to me?"

"Hm… always concerned with the strength of others…" Eva said, looking a little disappointed "Well, because we know of your desires to help them, we have helped them to awaken the demon in each of them, though neither are as powerful as the powers you will use. My own vampiric power will come to you when I deem fit. This is basically the introduction. When the time comes, I'll help you. After that you can train with my power. Now it is time for you to wake up. That little mission of yours is about to start and I'm sure you want to be up with your friends."

"Thank you Eva." Junichi said, bowing respectfully "I hope to be able to talk to you in the future."

"No sweat kid." Eva said with a smile "Just keep your nose clean and I'll do the rest. You'll get it in time. And remember, only once we die can we truly begin to live. And once we live again, we will transcend all forms of bondage. Ta Ta."

Junichi woke up quietly and began polishing and sharpening his fuuma shuriken. It would be a good mission, and with his new power, he knew he would come out of it with all his teammates intact.

Meanwhile 

In a small room, lit with only a few candles Momochi Zabuza stood in front of his shadowed employer, trying to get out of his latest mission.

"The sand children, plus these unknown genin from Kohona…" Zabuza said nervously. "To go against these children would be certain death. I have no intentions of dying again."

"Silence Zabuza." The shadowed figure said coldly, sending shivers up the mist Nin's spine "Who found you nearly dead on a bridge? Who fooled sharingan Kakashi into putting a rock into the grave instead of your body? Who took you in? Who gave you a place in life? You will carry out this mission and you will not complain about it."

"I understand" Zabuza said, keeping his head held high "I will do as instructed. As always I am grateful to you."

Zabuza walked down the narrow tunnels and began thinking about his oncoming challenge. He was pretty sure he could take out most of them, but Gaara of the desert…He would have to do it quickly. He would have to single each one out. He was an assassin Nin at one time after all. He just had to keep telling himself he would get through it.

The shadowed man laughed evilly. He knew what was coming and knew that there was a fifty-fifty chance that Zabuza would win. He was gambling his greatest playing piece in a game he loved ever so much. He stepped into the light of one of the candles to look at a picture. The light revealed his shoulder length white hair, and hisstubble coveredface. He looked down at a picture of a very young Junichi and grinned like a demon.

"Finally" The man breathed "He comes at last to learn of his past, his heritage…I shall see how he has grown…. my son…I should expect great things from him…"

And with that, his evil laughter echoed down the tunnels, scaring even the insects into hiding. All of the missing Nin that had gathered in this place shivered, and knew that something bad was going to happen.

* * *

BWAHAHAHAHA! That's right, I did it. I know some of you are all like "WTF! HE CAN'T DO THAT!". But I'm here to tell you that I've done that and so much more...I feel kind of evil for it too. Bringing Zabuza back...Probably shouldn't have happened. What's gonna make you flip out even more is what happens to him waaaay later in the story...not gonna drop any hints though. I like to put you on the edge of your seats.

REVIEW OR DIE!


	13. Chapter 13

Alrighty, the second part of my double update.

I need to talk to everybody about something. Technique names. I'm not good with naming stuff. I'm even worse at japanese. Normally I would strain and look these things up, but, because of my lack of reviews, I decided it might be better if I let you do that and send them in. Currently I need a list of Itachi's techniques for reasons I don't want to say at the moment. I could also go for a few of Kisame's, any other akatsuki people you might want to throw in for fun, and if you see any in here, give me the japanese for that so I can correct it in future and past chapters. I will greatly appreciate anything you send to me. Thank you for your cooperation.

I don't own Naruto. I DOown my oc's, a little bit of the plot, an empty gatorade jug, two younger sisters, a wicked hairdo, and a future six pack. Ladies, you're welcome to fantasize about my ripped arms, pecs, legs, and...groin area. You may also kiss my biceps. I like that.

* * *

They all got in line. The tunnels were only wide enough for one or two people at a time walking shoulder to shoulder. Junichi and Ayane were in front. Temari and Saotome were in back. Gaara, Kankuro and Kanoe managed to take the middle. They were all set.

The crept quietly down the halls. There was no possibility of stealth because of the one-way trail. The entire network was quiet. Too quiet, as the old cliché goes. As soon as the passages widened up, the attacks began.

Junichi blasted away at whatever was in front of him. Regular ninjutsu was almost useless because of the confined space, but kunai and shuriken were abundant. While Junichi shot his chakra at his enemies, Ayane threw various projectiles at them. Should anything dangerous get by, Gaara would bring up his sand shield and block the oncoming threat.

They slowly made their way down the tunnels, battling all the way. Soon though, the enemy shinobi became less and less until there were none at all. They continued down the single tunnel into a large cavern filled with water. On the other side were many entrances into other tunnels that led to god knows where.

The main attraction however was a man standing on the water. He had black and white camoflauge pants on and didn't seem to feel a compulsive need for a shirt. On his back he carried a gigantic sword that was almost as big as he was. He was unmistakably, Momochi Zabuza.

"So good of all of you to show up" Zabuza said creepily "Now I shall enjoy killing all of you one by one."

"I don't think so," Junichi said, stepping forward with a grin. Another one of his dreams had just come true "I don't know how you survived your fight with team seven in the wave country, but right here and now, you shall die by my hand."

"Ah, so young, and so cocky." Zabuza laughed to himself "In no world could the likes of you ever beat me."

"All of you," Junichi said to his team "Interfere only if I begin to fail. I want to test my mettle against this one."

With that, Junichi walked out onto the water and stood in front of the missing Nin. They stared into each other's eyes for a long time before any movement was made. They were sizing each other up, picturing the battle in their minds.

Suddenly, the water around Junichi exploded and he disappeared, only to appear right in front of Zabuza to deliver a quick punch to the face. Zabuza was much to quick, and caught Junichi's hand. With one solid motion, he brought his gigantic blade down on Junichi. Seeing the motion, Junichi opened his palm and blasted Zabuza in the head with chakra, sending him flying back a few feet.

Junichi regained his footing quickly and stood on the water readily. Zabuza got up and rubbed his cheek for a second.

"You must have spent a lot of time perfecting a technique like that" Zabuza said as if he were envious "You must be truly dedicated…No matter though, I'll defeat you now that I know your style."

Zabuza began to form his hands together in a seal, and in no time, five Zabuza bunshins sprung up around Junichi and lunged at him.

Junichi leapt into action. He ducked under the first sword strike and caught the bunshin in the chest with a chakra burst. Two more came up and slashed diagonally in different directions. Junichi took a step back and threw both fuuma shuriken right through their chests. One bunshin came up behind and slashed downward at him. Junichi stepped to the side and let the returning shuriken slice his head off before catching them, spinning them in his hands to create buzz saws and then slice the remaining clone to several pieces.

"You see Zabuza, no mere clone can beat me. I'm-" Junichi stopped short when suddenly the water around him formed up into a sphere and trapped him inside. He looked at the source of it and saw Zabuza standing there enjoying this part of torturing his prey.

"You poor little fool." Zabuza said with an evil chuckle "When I said I understood your style, I meant that you go in without thinking. You are the worst strategist I have ever seen. Your techniques are good, you just don't know how to use them."

The rest of the team looked on with shock. Nobody had ever seen Junichi beaten, except Saotome who just saw by the way he fought that Junichi let him win that one fight. Then Temari stepped forward and unstraped her fan from her back.

"C'mon Saotome kun." She said as if the situation was annoying "Get your butt up here and help save your teammate. And no back-talking either. You're not getting out of this one, now get over here."

"Fine…" Saotome said with a sigh as he rolled his eyes and walked out with her and got his guitar ready "I can't believe we're doing this. Zabuza is a VERY dangerous Jounin. We're just kids! We'll get massacred!"

"Quit your blubbering!" she snapped at him "Your friend's life is on the line! Now, you start playing that guitar and tell me what to do."

Saotome hung his head for a second and began playing a swift song on the lower notes finally ending high up on the neck of the guitar.

"Song of the assassin." Saotome said simply "You don't even need to get into this one. Just watch."

Saotome unstrapped his guitar from his back and held it close to the head in his right hand. He ran as fast as he could at Zabuza, trying for a forward attack.

Zabuza laughed evilly and raised his free hand to slash diagonally downward at the oncoming boy. In a flash of movement, Junichi dodged the blow at the last second and spun upward, smacking Zabuza square in the side of the head with his guitar. As he landed on the ground, the Zabuza before them turned into water and disappeared, releasing Junichi at the same time.

"What the hell!" Temari yelled with a surprised look on her face "How did you know it was a mizu bunshin? And furthermore, if it was only a bunshin, how did it trap Junichi san?"

"Simple." Saotome said with a shrug as he began to walk back to land "Zabuza was trained as an assassin. He would definitely know how many of us there were and know something about each of us. He wouldn't attack us as a group. Besides, it suits his style better to pick us off one by one. He was merely testing us. He used the first assault against Junichi to see what he could do, then used more mizu bunshins placed in areas and making movements he knew Junichi would beat, thus creating an illusion that his main bunshin was the original and at the same time, coming around and trapping Junichi. The real Zabuza is somewhere in the tunnels waiting for us to split up and search each one. He knows we need to get him out of the way in order to progress without interference. He has us right where he wants us."

"If we split up we only make ourselves easy targets" Kanoe said to him, acknowledging his reasoning "Splitting up is just what we he wants us to do."

"Think about not splitting up though" Saotome said as he strapped his guitar onto his back "If we don't split up, he could sneak up and that sword of his could wipe us out while we'd be in too close quarters to do anything. And say we don't find him. He would show up at the most inopportune time and kill us off easier than if we split up. He has put us in this situation and he knows what he's doing. What he doesn't know is who's going down each tunnel to find him."


	14. Chapter 14

I'M BACK ESSE!

Thats right ladies and germs, I'm back and I'm just as bitchin as ever! I have to say that since my last update, I only got one review that wasn't from Shang...That tells me that either my story sucks, or the people who read it are almost as lazy as I am. So I've decided to start using gimmicks to draw you people in, such as: provocative previews of the things I have just written! That's right people, from now on, if you send in your reviews, you get a sneek peek into the crap that's actually hot off the press, or the keyboard so to speak. Hope you like this chapter, and even if you don't, take the time out of your day to tell me so. It costs less than saving a starving child in Africa. REVIEW NOW PEOPLES!

OFFICIAL-LOOKING DISCLAIMER: I don't own Naruto, Hellsing, Priest, Bloodrayne, or any of the music I listen to when I write this.If I did own any of the things mentioned above...well let's just say I would be a much richer man than I am today.

* * *

Gaara was paired with Ayane. They walked silently down the dripping tunnel together, Ayane trying to avoid an uncomfortable situation with the slightly scary sand nin.

"Why do you have feelings for that Junichi boy?" Gaara asked calmly, as if it were a regular topic "You must know he shows no romantic interest in you whatsoever. In fact, he works extra hard to help you not be a burden to him and the entire team."

"W-who said I had feelings for him?" Ayane protested as angrily as she dared "And even if I did, how do you know him so well that you can tell things like that?"

"You are very obvious about it." Gaara said, still looking ahead "You're breathing speeds up when he's around and you fidget unconsciously. And furthermore, I can tell because he treats you no different than he would treat anybody else. To him you are a teammate, that is all. If you think you are getting special training, think again. He takes it upon himself to better those around him for the good of everyone."

"I don't believe you" Ayane said stubbornly "If he didn't like me, he wouldn't have embraced me like he did before we got here! Explain that Mr. Emotion expert!"

"I don't know of the situation fully," Gaara said shortly, getting irritated with her close minded perception "But I would guess that he wanted to make you be quiet or to get you to stop worrying or something of that nature."

"He wouldn't do that!" she protested, "He would never mess with my emotions like that…would he?"

"He would, and so would I" Gaara said, glad that she was seeing his way "Besides, he's dangerous. He claims to have a demon that plagues him. His mind is frail. He could very easily kill you for no reason at all."

"He does?" Ayane gasped. This information was something he should have shared with them "Why didn't he tell us about demons talking to him?"

"He's not sure of their intentions or anything else about them, or even if they're for real." Gaara explained "From what I was told, I believe he has a single demon that somehow knows how to channel it's power through his body from some other plane of existence...or he's just plain crazy."

"I see…" she said quietly "So he simply uses us to keep him alive. He used my emotions to make me be quiet for a moment…"

"What did you expect.?" Gaara said, once again as if it was nothing to him "He loves training. He loves strength. He loves the feeling of the power coursing through his veins when he activates a jutsu. He loves the agonizing pain he experiences as he trains all day and all night. His love is strength, and because of that love, he believes others should love it too, and thus, tries his best to help others to become strong."

"I think I understand" Ayane said with a sad smile "For someone like him, emotions are frivolous and don't aid strength. Do you think the same way Gaara?"

"I believe that I am better suited to live without attachment of another human being." Gaara said simply "I will never be completely sane, as most people claim to know it, and I will never stop being dangerous, no matter how many people teach me of things I never came to learn. Junichi taught me that through certain actions, we are bonded, and these bonds make us more than enemies, more than friends, it reveals something deeper of each of us. But none of that matters, because the Shukaku will outlive me a thousand fold, and his bloodlust will never be sated."

"I don't think so." Ayane said with a smile "One day you will meet somebody who makes the world keep spinning for you. I believe that you are destined for greater things than even you think possible, and, from the stories I've heard, you have paid for every bit of greatness with your own tears."

"You are an interesting person." Gaara said suddenly "You are the weakest link in the chain, yet you are able to look up and believe that everyone and everything will be ok, though you are not able to do anything to urge it in that direction."

"Well Gaara kun," Ayame said with a smile "It may not be much, but sometimes believing is enough to bring forth the greatest forces on earth. Having hope will give us wings that can soar through any darkness. Through our relationships with others, we learn of hope, and we gain things to hope for, and thus, we add to our power."

Suddenly Gaara's sand shield flew up behind them only to be smashed down by a gigantic sword. When the dust settled, there stood Momochi Zabuza. He lifted his sword again and prepared to strike.

"Ayane chan, get behind me" Gaara said with commanding authority "If I should fall, you run as fast as you can until you either meet up with the others, or get out of this hellhole."

"Nice sentiments" Zabuza said with killing intent nearly visible around him "but neither of you will be leaving alive!"

Zabuza stood still as a heavy mist started to roll in. Gaara stood perfectly still, letting his sand flatten against the ground so that if anybody stepped within a certain range, he would have them in his desert coffin. He was only barely able to dodge the sword swing that came down from above him. He stepped to the side just in time and directed his sand to raise up to the ceiling and search for Zabuza, only to find nobody there. He started to notice that his Sand was getting heavier because it was absorbing the mist. He had to think quick and formed a plan in his mind.

Zabuza was right behind Gaara and Ayane ready to make the final swing. He swung with all his might, sure he would get them. The sand was too quick though, and caught his sword, then traveled up his sword to his arm and then to his whole body until he was encased from the neck down in rock hard sand.

"Never send in a clone to do the original's job" Gaara said, stepping forward as the mist faded. Then, with killer's eyes, he raised his hand and with one solid motion, snapped it shut. As soon as the pressure got high enough, the body turned into water and the sand fell to the ground from the extra weight.

"phew" she breathed quickly after their near death experience "How were you able to figure out it was a clone?"

"Zabuza is an assassin." Gaara explained calmly "He knows who I am and wouldn't try to take me down first, he would pick off the others to make sure I didn't have any backup and then take me down after sending about a hundred more clones at me. Now we need to keep moving."

Temari and Saotome walked down a dark, dripping tunnel silently. Neither really knew what to say to each other, now that they were kind of like a weird couple of unofficial sorts. After a long moment of silence, Temari decided to break the ice again.

"You were really great back there." She said without looking at him "You were able to see what move he would make based on the fact that he had one free arm and a very heavy sword and analyze his attack style. It was an impressive performance."

"Had it been the real thing, he would have cut me in half." Saotome said, trying to make it seem like it wasn't a big deal and that he was so cool that it just didn't matter to him "I was trying to cut it close, but I wouldn't have been able to get away with it had it been him. I was surprised that you took the initiative to help save Junichi."

"Someone had to step up." Temari said toughly "I'm sure, had we all joined in, we could have taken on the real guy. He's a very powerful jounin, but he's not invincible."

"He was beaten before, which is what bothers me." Saotome said, still not looking at her "According to records, he died and was buried in the wave country. He shouldn't be here. He should be planted six feet under. Somebody brought him back for their purposes and is using him. It would have to be somebody powerful though, to enlist so many runaway shinobi from so many different lands. It can't be Orochimaru, because there would be sound Nin here, and I don't think I saw any when we blasted our way in…the whole setup just kind of makes me nervous. I'm worried about our safety."

"You don't have to worry about me." Temari said with a smile "And because I'm here, you don't need to worry about you either. I've basically got you covered. I do appreciate your concern though. You seem to be pretty stressed because you haven't tried to crack one of your stupid jokes in a long time."

"yeah, well…" Saotome started, trying to think of what to say "It's not stress. It's something else. I just feel relieved all of the sudden. I think that being around you has made me more serious, though I don't understand why."

"Join the club." Temari said shortly "I'm starting to smile when there's nothing to smile about and I get slightly giddy sometimes. It's definitely not like me."

"Well, common logic would tell us that we have an attraction to each other and that it's changing us." Saotome said as he rubbed his chin in thought "Of course we have to ask ourselves if that's what we want. Do we want to change? To we want to take the risk of emotions in a shinobi's world of bloodshed and tears?"

"Well gut instincts would tell us the answer to those questions" Temari said with a quiet smile "And I believe that I would be willing to sacrifice it to see the land where sand and desert exist together."

"You know…" Saotome said warily, trying not to spoil the mood "When I was talking about that, I was serious. There is a place that is like the desert and the forest. At first I wasn't trying to be all philosophical and stuff."

"I've come to assume that of you." Temari said with a shrug "But you did put out an effort to be thoughtful and romantic so I'll let it slide just this once, but from now on I'm going to be a lot stricter on those types of things."

"Rules…ouch" Saotome said with a grin as he scratched the back of his head "I didn't read about any rules when I signed up for this. I was just in it because you're hot and I'm one sexy piece of flesh myself, and I also know how irresistible I am."

"Saotome kun" Temari said as calmly as she could with a vein popping out on her forehead "I swear to god, if you ruin another moment like that I'll beat you to a pulp. And for your information, I'm much sexier than you are."

"You got any way to back that up?" Saotome asked cockily "I mean, I've got ladies all over me man. I've got girls all up and down Kohona. I'm like the king pimp, of the genin. No need to be jealous, it's not like you could help it or anything."

"Saotome kun…you're an idiot" Temari said as she decked him across the face "I have no clue why I'm attracted to a loser like you."

At that point a tidal wave of water started to rush at them from behind. Temari quickly undid the clasp on her fan and with one clean swipe, the wind blew the water all the way back.

"TEMARI CHAN, LOOK OUT!" Saotome yelled as Zabuza ran up and slashed at her diagonally. With all his might, Saotome took out a kunai and stopped the sword from slicing her in half, but was thrown back in the process.

Temari quickly readied her fan again. She looked at Saotome momentarily and raised her hand to move the fan.

Zabuza saw the movement, and he easily sliced the fan in half with one motion and caught Temari in the neck and hung her up on the wall with the dull side of his blade with another motion.

Saotome saw Temari struggling to breath and let out a battle cry as he flew at Zabuza with kunai blazing. Zabuza was able to intercept the attack and kicked him hard in the stomach.

Saotome got up slowly and didn't notice the changes. His hair got a little longer. His muscles bulged slightly. His teeth became sharp. His fingertips suddenly had claws on them. He let out a wolf-like howl and rushed at Zabuza with newfound strength.

Zabuza saw the change and, having some slight experience with chakra changing demons, let Temari go from the wall and slashed him across the chest. Temari fell unconscious to the ground and Saotome stood there with one clawed hand over the gash on his chest.

"I don't know if you know it boy, but you have a demon on your side." Zabuza said with a chuckle "But you're not powerful enough to beat me. The demon hasn't shown enough power to beat me."

Saotome snarled and lunged at Zabuza after jumping up and vaulting off the ceiling. Zabuza took the flat side of his blade and caught him vertically, and using the momentum of the swing, slammed him into a wall, knocking him out and letting his normal appearance take over again.

With an evil grin on his face Zabuza heaved them up on his shoulders and carried him down to the real Zabuza, who laid in wait for his prey. These two would be used as bait, or anything else he could use them for. He hadn't decided yet.

Junichi walked down his tunnel alone. In his rage, he hadn't waited for orders and plunged straight into the tunnels to look for Zabuza. He had lost and now he had to win. As he walked, he heard Eva's voice in his ears.

"You can't win against him boy." She whispered seductively "Even I would be little help against him. He is very powerful and he has years more experience than you."

"I don't care" Junichi replied out loud "Even if I don't win, I want his respect. I don't want to be beaten so easily again."

"You would die for your opponent to acknowledge you" Eva laughed at him "That is the way of the fool boy. He will kill you and it will be easy for him. Even if I do help you, it is very likely he could destroy us both unless we play our cards just right."

"I don't care. I'm fighting him." Junichi said through gritted teeth "I will go after him and I will either live or die. You can either choose to help me or you can refuse. That part isn't my choice. What is my choice is whether to die at the hands of an enemy or to die dishonorably in a bed sixty years from now. I refuse to let my training go out the window. I will fight."

Then Junichi walked into a wide cave with water dripping all around. The stalagmites and stalactites hung and rose in various forms all throughout the visible landscape. On the other side of a large pool stood Momochi Zabuza. With determination not known to many of his age, he stood readily on the opposite side of the pool and stared at Zabuza with hate in his eyes.

"I hope you know what you're doing." Eva said in his mind "I will come when you need me the most. Many of my techniques will be barred from you, but the innate powers will be yours. Use it wisely child."

"It seems you have finally got here" Zabuza said mockingly "I hope you're ready for another embarrassing defeat. This time, your little friends won't be able to see for you. You're all alone and you're eyes are clouded by anger. This should prove easy."

"Do not underestimate me Zabuza." Junichi said "I will defeat you yet."

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Alright, here I go with the review responses:

Shang: Yes, Junichi is a loser. He's not totally immune, and I'll get to that much later on. I freakin hated the tunnels part. It was just a transition, think nothing more of it please.

§unburn: Ahh, the first not-Shang reviewerI've had in a long time. Don't praise me that much,I might get a big head. I do hope you keep reading because it's going to be one hell of a trip onceI get to part two.

And nowwhat you've allbeen waiting for! The preview! Not gonna tell you when you'llget to it, just know thatit's in there, and you'll have to keepreading and reviewing to find it.

_Junichi sat in a dark hallway with bodies littered all over the place. They had all gone down relatively easy, and now he sat slumped against the dead end wall with his hand feeling the organs inside the closest corpse. _

_ Slowly, he began to take his hand out and stare at it. He looked at the crimson blood that stained the very skin. It flowed over his hands and dripped to the floor drop by single drop. It was in that moment, when Junichi actually stared at the blood itself. Then something went off inside his head, telling him things he had never heard before. _

_ He reached his hand back into the corpse, feeling the heart of the victim and tearing it free from the various arteries and veins holding it in place. He held it in his hand and looked at it for a long time. Though it no longer beat, it was still warm, it's owner only having died a few minutes ago. _

_ With greedy eyes he slowly got closer and closer to the heart, until he could smell the thing very distinctly. The aroma of a human heart flooded into his nostrils and went into his brain, causing his eyes to roll back into his head in ecstasy. He suddenly opened his mouth and took a large bite out of the heart, barely taking time to chew before taking another bite, and another, before the entire thing was devoured. _

_ He hungrily looked at his bloody hands and then back down to the corpse. There were still good organs in it. Of course it couldn't go to waste. He bent down and slowly began eating the rest of the body, taking the organs first and then moving on to the skin. Once that was done, he moved on to the next corpse, and the next one, his hunger never satiating itself. With each bite, he felt a surge of power as his soul slipped farther and farther away from his body. _

Alright, that's all. Rock on. I'm out.


	15. Chapter 15

HIIIIIIDY HO! It's me, your beloved and incredibly good looking fanfiction author!

First of- REVIEW MORTALS! Second off-If you did review, thank you. You make me more whole.

ANNOUNCEMENT THING- Allright people, I have most of the pairings hammered out already except for none other than good old Junichi! I'm going to let you choose between three, count 'em, three choices.You can either pair him up with another Oc, which I already have made up just in case, Ayane, or Sakura! That's right, nowyour reviews can have even more meaning than they already do! I also hope you liked the little preview I gave you. It's hard to find previews that don't give away too much of the story. I'll keep hammerin away at it though.

Saotome: I'd like to say that the author isn't that good looking. He lies a lot. He also doesn't own Naruto, contrary to popular belief. In fact, you should send all your hate mail straight to our lying author, because there aren't enough incredibly hot babes that are interested in me in this story.

Temari: WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST SAY?

Saotome: I was talking about...how pretty you are?

Me: And so Saotome ended up strung up in town square for all to see. It wasn't for the first time either mind you. Well, on to the story. REVIEW!

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"I would rethink if I were you." Zabuza cackled as he motioned towards Saotome and Temari who were stuck to the wall behind him with kunai "You see, if you make one wrong move, your friends die."

"Damn you Zabuza, damn you to hell" Junichi murmured through gritted teeth "To think you would stoop to such cowardly tactics as to take captives like this. I had pegged you as higher, but I guess I was wrong."

"I am Shinobi boy." Zabuza laughed wickedly "In our world, the mission getting done is first hand. And my mission is to kill you and your little friends!"

Zabuza rushed forward with incredible speed. Junichi threw a chakra blast at him and dodged to the side, pulling out his fuuma shuriken. Zabuza flipped around and swung across at him. Junichi caught the blade with one fuuma shuriken and guided it away from his body while the other was aimed at cutting off Zabuza's head. Zabuza chuckled as he dodged the swing and kicked Junichi in the stomach, sending him flying into a stalagmite before falling to the ground.

"Damn…" Junichi muttered as he slowly got up. As he did so, Zabuza stood over him and looked down with killing intent shining in his eyes. The jounin picked up Junichi and threw him into another rock formation. And thus, continued this cycle for a long time, until Junichi was bloody and bruised beyond measure.

Junichi stood up weakly and looked at his opponent. He had overestimated his own abilities and had gone right into his enemy's clutches. Looking back he knew he was a fool for coming. The speech he had given Eva was nothing but his own stupidity showing. Even as he knew this, he looked at Zabuza and, deciding his number was up anyway, ran at the laughing mist nin with his useable arm holding a fuuma shuriken.

Zabuza grinned under the bandages over his mouth. This kid had real potential, but he would never make it. As Junichi neared, Zabuza sliced his right arm off and stepped to the side, only to slice Junichi's left arm off using the momentum from the first swing. Then using one quick swipe, he cut Junichi's torso from his legs, making a bloody mess on the ground.

"It appears you were nothing more than an average genin after all" Zabuza crowed at his fallen opponent. He began walking toward the tunnels to finish off the rest when his sword was yanked from his grasp all of the sudden. He wheeled around and saw a very serious looking Kanoe standing, seemingly, in midair holding his sword.

"You killed my genin" Kanoe said simply, her quiet tone dripping with malice "For this, I will kill you now Momochi Zabuza, demon of the mist."

"You're the fool who sent these children in here." Zabuza said as he pointed at her "You should know better. You risked the lives of your students and you paid the price for one. Now, if you think you can take me, come and try your luck."

Kanoe jumped down and rushed him. Zabuza expected such brashness from a genin, but a jounin? No. She was using some sort of illusion. He guessed right as he felt wires start to move around his feet. He leapt over the clone Kanoe and landed neatly on the water, similar to his fight with Kakashi, causing the mist to rolled in.

Kanoe used the mist to her advantage and began setting up traps, making sure Zabuza's sword was still attached to the string on her left ring finger. She moved about the mist with a jounin's grace. She began to leap back into her hiding place when something punched her in the face and sent a numbing sensation all throughout her head due to the power.

As if some ancient form of evil were attacking her, Zabuza stepped through the mist, which parted enough for her to see him. He stood there smugly, so sure of victory. He took one step forward, which was a fatal mistake though, and a barrage of kunai flew at him.

Zabuza jumped backward and in the process, set off a stalagmite to fall on him. Zabuza had to jump to the side quickly, this time having to avoid cutting wires that were dangerously close to turning him into a much shorter assassin. He managed to catch his breath for a second when he felt something punch him in the face. He stepped back and almost immediately felt the kunai and shuriken dig into his back and arms.

"And so ends the demon Zabuza." Kanoe said with a grin as she began to pull wires around his body "Like I said, I will take your life, and you will pay for Junichi's death."

Just as she cut him apart, the body turned to water and splashed onto the ground. Then, all of her wires went slack at once. Then she saw him, shrugging off the blades in his back and wielding his behemoth sword like a katana.

"How were you able to escape and get your sword without me knowing?" Kanoe demanded shakily. She hadn't seen this one coming at all.

"You got me with that last trap and I'll give you credit for that" Zabuza explained "But before I let the mist up, I created a clone and meanwhile used my real self to switch out my sword with a rock in henge as my sword so there would be no chance of you catching it. After that, it was simple to eliminate all of your strings with one single sword swing. Oh, and did I mention that I'm just a clone, and the real Zabuza is behind you."

The Zabuza in front of her turned into water and fell on the ground. Kanoe looked behind her just in time to see what looked like a water tornado rush at her and hit her squarely into the hard cave wall. Her last sight was Zabuza cackling in laughter before she fainted.

Zabuza was having a good day. He had expected there to be heavier opposition but was terribly mistaken. He would have to trust his employer's judgement more often. He put his sword on his back and was about to walk into the tunnels when a chill shot up his spine, something very foreign to him.

Zabuza turned around slowly and saw the bloody pile of Junichi. At first it looked normal but then the pile started to put itself back together. In the order that he separated them, the appendages attached themselves back to the torso. Zabuza could only stare on in horror as the body picked itself back up and looked at him with deep red eyes and enlarged canines.

"Aaahhh….Zabuza…" Junichi said with a foreign accent as his wounds healed themselves "You did good, but when dealing with ancient demons, you need to know more about what you're doing. That was a fine job for humans, but a vampire…well, lets just say you came up short."

Zabuza pulled his sword off his back and quickly sliced off Junichi's arm above the elbow. Junichi stood there calmly and watched as his severed limb didn't even hit the ground, but turned into a reddish substance that reattached itself to his body. Junichi looked up at Zabuza and grinned evilly. Suddenly he punched him in the chest. Zabuza was sent across the cave and into a wall, leaving a small crater.

Zabuza got up slowly, knowing that he had several broken limbs and a dislocated shoulder. He quickly snapped the shoulder back into place without even thinking about it and went back to his assault on Junichi. The boy elegantly danced around the mist jounin's blade, laughing the entire time. Finally, Zabuza yelled in anger and brought the sword down on the laughing demon child. Junichi caught the sword with his bare hand and looked Zabuza in the eyes.

"There are demons inside us all Zabuza," Junichi said with an eerie calm about him "But yours haven't awakened enough to destroy me yet."

Junichi wrenched took his free hand and punched Zabuza in the chest again, sending him sailing. This time, it was all Zabuza could do to lean up on his sword as he coughed up blood. He looked up with fear in his eyes. The same fear he saw in all of his prey before he died. He saw the boy walking towards him, not making ripples in the water as he did so, nor making a reflection in the same water he walked over effortlessly.

"Go ahead and kill me" Zabuza said weakly, knowing that one more punch to the chest would almost completely destroy his rib cage "Just get it over with. I would do the same for you, and did in fact, if I do so recall."

Junichi stared at him for a second, then the red hue left his eyes and his teeth returned to normal on the spot, leaving him once again, the master ninjutsu specialist genin of Kohona. With a sudden movement, he grabbed Zabuza's sword out from under him

"This sword will do." Junichi said as he worked to lift the blade and examine it "I think with proper training, I should be able to use it proficiently."

With that said, Junichi preformed a quick healing jutsu he had picked up because he thought it might be useful…and he had nothing better to do at the time, and used it to heal up Zabuza's wounds the best he could, which wasn't great. With rest though, Zabuza would be back to normal.

"What the hell are you doing kid?" Zabuza inquired almost angrily "You're supposed to kill me and send my corpse to my master to show that you beat me, take my hitae-ate and continue your mission."

"I'll take this sword." Junichi said simply as he stared down at the man unemotionally "I read somewhere that a warrior's sword is his soul. I am taking your soul, and with it, I shall become more powerful. You can keep your life. I have no use for it."

Junichi looked at the tunnels as Kankuro, Gaara, and Ayane came out slowly. They had seen the entire battle while hiding. He looked from their stares, or actually Kankuro and Ayane's stares because Gaara looked on blankly as always, and then looked at the unconscious Temari and Saotome. Without a second look, he walked on into the only exit from this room and left everyone behind him to recuperate. He knew they wouldn't want him around after such a display.

"I am now a monster. There is no way anyone will ever except me again after seeing that." Junichi told himself as he walked down the dark corridor heaving the soul of his enemy on his back awkwardly. He truly believe that nothing would ever be the same with himself and his teammates ever again, but the only thing left to do was to plunge into the darkness he had opened.

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Allright, review responses and a preview:

Shang: Don't even go there with me because I have sooo many chances where I could give you even worse cliffhangers and didn't. You should be thanking me for my kindness really. Hope you like the story.

VarianFAWKES: Allright dude, I gotta say that had you gone past the first chapter you would have seen them interact with the other "real charectures" and conflict with them as well. Of course I hope you kept on reading and whatnot, and if you didn't, I hope you enjoyed the first "chaeptar".

THE FREAKIN PREVIEW!

_"Stand down Lee, fighting now would be foolish" Saotome said with a grin "you can kick his ass later dude. You got all the time in the world."_

_ "BUT I MUST SEE IF THE FIRE OF YOUTH BURNS WITHIN HIM!" The creature called Lee shouted._

_ "Dude I told you to cut that crap out. I also told you that youth doesn't burn, it lightly chills if you're any good at it." Saotome said, though few people knew what he was talking about "You know what Gai sensei would do if he caught you trying to kick everybody's ass? He would deck you. Lay you out flat man, he could snatch your ass in a bear trap for all we know, that guy is crazy."_

_ "GAI SENSEI IS THE GREATEST! IF HE WERE TO DECK ME I'M SURE I WOULD DESERVE IT!" Lee yelled crazily._

_ "If you don't stop being annoying I'LL deck you." Saotome said, "Don't make me pull out my skills on you, cause you know I will. Like that one time I tied you up and messed with your hair. You looked like an electroshock victim."_

_ "AS ALWAYS YOUR WORDS OF WISDOM RING TRUE!" Lee continued yelling, and now tears were streaming down his face "ONE DAY I WISH TO BE AS WISE AS YOU SAOTOME!"_

_ Then there was hugging. It was by far the strangest thing anybody had seen. Junichi was seriously thinking about taking a kunai to the temple and just forget everything. Many other people had the same thought._

Rock on and review. I'm out!


	16. Chapter 16

HIIIIIIDY HOOOOOO!

Well, I gots to say that the only person who reviewed my lovely story was Shang, and he knows he's my number one fan. In all honesty, I don't know why you won't review. It's absolutely free, it takes a total of 45 seconds, and it makes me so happy that I do a dance. I've gotten to where I enjoy the bad reviews too. So I declare, that the next person who isn't Shang that reviews me, I'll post up seven new chapters. I don't like the first part of the story as much as the second part anyway, so I rushed alot of what I did. I admit it's not that great, but now that I'm on my own without lord Kishimoto's help, I must say I'm doin fine. The poll for which babe Junichi gets. So far, only Shang sent in a vote...I'm pretty sure the point of a poll is for OPOSITION to have a chance! Anywaywho, on to the short dialogue between me and a fictional character. THEY review me all the time!

Saotome: What's kickin asshole?

Me: Don't call me an asshole or I'll expose your private life. I might even go so far as to tell them what happened between >>cough cough and >>cough cough while you were strung up in town square for all to see. And I'll also remind them how it didn't happen to you, and probably won't for a looooooooong time. Believe me, I can go into detail.

Saotome: cruel bastard...Just because me and Temari >>mumble mumble Doesn't mean it's my fault! It's all hers because she >>mumble mumble 

Me: I know, I wrote it. Don't worry, seeings how you're like my favorite character and you're alot like me in many ways, I won't leave you hangin. You shall be rewarded with >>cough cough. 

Temari: OVER MY DEAD BODY! YOU ARE >>while Temari beats us to a pulp, the censor had to cut in and edit ALL of her dialogue. 

I don't own Naruto or the right to decide what Temari will or will not do in her free time. I am also here to say that I am not a sexist, and that I would never, ever, EVER, think about putting any of the women in this story in certain situations that certain females would take offense to. But there will be sex. Oooooh boy will there be sex. gets pummeled by Temari again

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"Did you see that? He just freaking beat his ass into the ground! And his bloody corpse PUT ITSELF BACK TOGETHER. This guy has some serious issues. Like, no offense, Gaara-sized issues. In fact, he might be beating Gaara." Kankuro ranted on. 

"Its true, most humans can't come back from the dead" Gaara stated calmly, not letting on how much even he was creeped out at the event "But some demons can, and I think that's what happened. He mentioned hearing demon voices to me but I thought he was just insane. To see it with my own eyes…this is truly something we need to treat with care."

"No way man." Saotome said with a hand on his head as he got up groggily "I don't know what happened because I was knocked out, but I think Junichi needs us now more than ever. If he truly does have demons messin' with his head, we need to help him keep it under control."

"Come to think of it, before Zabuza knocked me out, you looked a little strange too Saotome kun, your hair got longer and you had claws and you looked a lot like some sort of two legged wolf or something. Maybe Junichi did something to you and you didn't know it." Temari said uneasily. This whole thing was freaky.

"Did I howl? Did it sound like a wolf howling at the moon?" Saotome inquired inquisitively, showing that he wasn't telling everyone something.

"I … don't know. I passed out before I saw anything else. Why would you ask such a weird question?" Temari replied warily.

Saotome leaned up against a rock and rubbed his hand over his face with a sigh. "Sometimes I hear a wolf howling at the moon. I look around but I never find it. He seems to be real close to me but he's well hidden. One time I saw him though… Biggest wolf I've ever seen. He was almost as big as a horse, though not as tall. He looked at me for a second and then walked off. Zabuza said that I had a demon, but I didn't notice anything different, and I thought he was lying. I think that wolf did something to me, and maybe the same thing happened to Junichi!"

"Do you know of an animal with red eyes and pointy teeth?" Kanoe asked sarcastically "Make sure you add in the fact that it's almost too fast to be seen, can walk over water effortlessly, and is much stronger than normal humans."

"I heard a story once of such a creature." Ayane spoke up meekly "I think daddy called it a vampire. He said that it was a foreign creature that lived in distant lands. He said that it was like an evil shinobi, because it could walk on walls and water without using any chakra. It supposedly can turn into bats and mist and do many horrible things."

"What kind of horrible things can it do Ayane?" Gaara asked quite seriously, sure she had found what it was.

"Well, my daddy said they're dead, so they need to drink the blood of the living to survive, thus the fangs. He said they can make fire on command, make things float, and if they bite somebody, they turn into a walking corpse…and the only way to kill them is to stab them in the heart, or just destroy the heart altogether."

"Holy shit…" Kankuro said as he put his hands on his head in frustration "If he can do all that, we need to get the hell out of here! Junichi turning into some sort of…vampire! This is by far the freakiest thing I've ever seen, and I live with Gaara! Junichi is out drinking people's blood! He took Zabuza's sword, and he walked off and disappeared into the dark. I say, we leave him there and abort this mission on account of freakiness."

"No way loser! We don't abandon you because you wear weird make up and play with dolls!" Saotome said sternly as he stood up.

"You wanna take that back creep?" Kankuro threatened dangerously as he waved his fist.

"Shut up, both of you." Kanoe said calmly, causing everyone to get quiet and listen to her "We're going after Junichi. He will need our back up. Kankuro, you're able to leave if you want to but I will tell you right now, if you get caught in the tunnels, we wont help you."

Saotome nodded quietly and Kankuro crossed his arms. It was silently decided that he would go with them. Gathering up their supplies, they trudged on into the darkness after their comrade.

Junichi had to drag his way though the caves because of the weight of the sword. He thought about leaving it, but to leave such a treasure would be like throwing a diamond down a well.

The fight between him and Zabuza had been playing over and over in his head, as if it were some sort of broken record player. The truth was, he was scared. As a demon, he lusted for blood, longed to fight, wished for the kill…it was just all too much too soon.

His biggest fear was that he would lose his teammates trust. After such a sight, could he ever live like he used to? Sure it wasn't the glamour life, but it was human, which was now changed. He didn't want them to fear him anymore. At first he enjoyed toying with their minds, but now it was different. Now they had seen tough battles and bloodshed. Now they were bonded together. And Junichi would give the sword on his back and all the power he had to keep that bond intact.

The tunnel started to become more rounded, better made. In the far distance, he could make out a faint light coming from some unseen source. Junichi walked on with squinted eyes, trying to make out whatever it was. Somewhere along the way though, he found that his hair was standing on end. Something was wrong. Something was waiting for him. But even if he tried to turn around, Junichi knew he couldn't. He had to keep going, no matter what the cost, because something inside him felt compelled to enter this zone of evil.

It was a training dojo. It was roughly cut out of the stone, but it was the most modern thing down here. There were targets on the walls and training dummies on the ground. The source of light came from candles lit in strategic points around the area. Junichi surveyed the area carefully, trying to pinpoint the source of his uneasiness. As he looked, he noticed that the candles were slowly extinguishing themselves one by one in sporadic areas.

All at once, it was completely dark. Then all at once a giant bonfire exploded into flame in front of him. Junichi had to take a step back to shield his eyes and his skin from the blaze. The flames came from a pit dug out of the stone, nearly fourteen feet in diameter.

On the other side of the fire, was a man. He stood facing away from the flames. He was wearing no form of shirt, but around his waist he had what looked like the bottom half of a robe that was plain black, as if he was a samurai who couldn't find all of his clothes. His long white hair fell across his bare shoulder blades, and if not for his muscular build, one would think him a woman if looking from the back. He held his arms slightly out from his sides, his fingers flexed, like he was squeezing the life out of an unseen entity.

"Who are you, and why are you here?" Junichi asked warily. In his gut, he knew that this was the source of the evil that permeated even the rock walls around him. Something in his head was screaming at him to run, to flee, to escape this being forever. Something else hinted at an old familiarity. It was faint, but Junichi was almost certain he had somehow encountered this being, be it man or otherwise, before.

"Why Junichi kun…I'm hurt I truly am…you mean to say that you truly don't recognize me?" the being spoke, its tone noting it to be a human male of common descent.

"I'm sure I might be able to recognize you if you were to turn around so that I may see your face." Junichi said calmly even though his skin crawled.

"Polite, I'll give you that…don't know where you got it from, certainly not me…" the man laughed to himself as he turned around.

Junichi looked upon a man he had wanted to meet for so long, but now that the time was here, he was too scared to move. His jaw was covered by slight stubble, hinting that he was maybe about thirty or so. What was scary were his eyes. They were completely normal. No slits, no dojutsu, and no discolorations of any sort. They were black pools of endless depth. To some extent, they were calming. Just like going underwater and looking around at the tranquility, until you realize that you are sinking, and not coming out ever again and all you will ever know is darkness before you die. This is what his eyes were, and this is how he killed. In complete and utter darkness of the heart.

"I must say, my son, you've grown to be a fine man…and you've trained very hard." The man grinned evilly and open his hands in a sarcastic friendly gesture. "Sorry I had to leave you before I could see to raising you properly. You know how the whole get hunted by an entire village for you slightly unethical research thing is."

"I'm sure I don't understand such things." Junichi said coldly, his heart racing "I am sure that I will kill you for leaving me alone. Because you made the emptiness in my life and never bothered to fix it."

"Geez, I didn't know you would be such a baby about it!" The man exclaimed almost comically "C'mon! Look at how you turned out! You beat that Gaara boy without demons! That's no easy feat for one your age! So why are you whining?"

"Its not about strength! It's about people! It's about you leaving a little kid to fend for himself! It's about you making my life harder than it had to be!" Junichi yelled at him.

"Man, you are looking at this the wrong way. I really thought you would be smarter." The man rubbed his face and sighed, "You know I did what was best for you. Because of me, you are what you are. Sure you might be a little unhappy, but you don't get strength without costs! And you can't blame me because you never got any friends or anything. That was your fault."

Junichi gritted his teeth. His father was right. It had just been so easy to blame him… All his emptiness was his own fault, and he could blame nobody else. He had no reason to kill his father.

"But you should know, before you stop being angry that is, that I sacrificed your mothers soul to enter the demon realm." The man said with an evil grin.

Junichi lunged at him suddenly, pulling the sword off his back and slicing with all his might at his mother's murderer. The man caught the blade with his hand, just as Junichi had done, the attack not fazing him at all.

"I knew that would get the job done." He said with a grin "You know, I'm going to start my own village. The hiddenshadow village. It has a nice ring to it doesn't it. I take in all the nunekins I can, and soon I'll have enough to overrun even the larger villages, starting with the sand."

"I don't care! You gave my mother to demons in order to further your own ambitions! You don't deserve to live!" Junichi snarled at him with the highest form of hatred one can know.

"You are such a crybaby." Junichi's father said as he shook his head. Suddenly he kicked Junichi in the stomach, throwing him into the wall with such force, the entire wall cracked a little.

"Give this to your superiors, to show that you got the job done." The man said as he tossed him a forehead protector "And tell old professor that Kagame Kiske sends his regards to all of Kohona."

And with that he was gone. He merely wasn't there anymore. The last thing that Junichi remembered was hearing somebody shout. He thought he knew the voice, but didn't have time to think of such things as he slowly slipped away into the deadness of sleep.

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Well, I hopes you like it. No preview because I'm slightly dissapointed in all of you. Not Shang, he gets candy and explosives. The rest of you get a previewless chapter. Hope you enjoy it NON-REVIEWERS 


	17. Chapter 17

WHATS KICKIN MY SHIZZLE!

Okay, here it is. I got a review from someone other than Shang, and I'm posting up seven more chapters. I'm a man of my word, so I guess I have no choice really. Well, here it is.

I don't own Naruto. I do own a kilt though, and I enjoy wearing it.

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Junichi woke with a start in the small apartment in the sand village. Everybody had been sitting around with nothing to do, just waiting for him to wake. As soon as he did so they all rushed around him and began asking him what had happened, with the exception of Gaara who merely stood back calmly.

Junichi slowly pulled out a hitae-ate from a random pocket from his pants and stared at it. On the center was a ying-yang. The symbol of life and death, heaven and hell, good and evil. The basis of his father's newfound ambition. This symbol would be the object of their torture.

"It's my father…" Junichi said slowly "He's alive and he plans to destroy the sand and build his own shinobi empire, eventually taking over other villages."

"We know." Kanoe said shortly "But now, all we can do is warn the kazekage and get our pay. Currently the enemy has left and thus, we have completed the mission. We'll be leaving in a few hours after we talk to the kazekage."

Everyone dispersed. Deciding to let the talking up to Kanoe. Nobody knew what they would do when they got back to their normal lives. Probably about a million D rank missions would be their fate. I don't think they minded.

Saotome and Temari walked down the streets hand in hand, knowing that in a few hours time they would have to part. Both were saddened, even though they knew the time would have to come. They simply wanted to enjoy each other's company while they could.

"Temari chan, I will leave today. I have a duty to my village and besides, this place is windy and the sand gets in your eyes." Saotome said quietly as the walked along.

"I know." Temari said with a sad smile "They would kill me if I left here, and I wouldn't want to either. I have too much here to leave."

"Then what to do?" Saotome asked, "What are we going to do about it? Are we just gonna give up and go home to our respective lives? Are we just gonna forget anything ever happened?"

"No. We wont forget. We will remember always, and await the next time we might meet again until one day things will be good enough for us to be together again. Then we will be happy and everything will be well." Temari said simply as she put her head on his shoulder.

"I guess that's all we have left." Saotome said sadly "Nothing but waiting for things to be better. I guess it's better than nothing though. I'll take it."

"Me too." Temari said as she looked into his eyes. Slowly she leaned forward as did he. Their faces were mere millimeters apart for a second, and then they touched. The deep, passionate love of two people who would soon be separated for an unknown period of time was said to stop the wind from blowing for a second, just a second, in honor of these two who would separate from each other for the sake of their villages and undergo the constant pain of waiting.

Junichi sat on top of the abandoned watchtower with his new sword. He wondered what would become of him. He wondered what would become of his father. He wondered what would become of the shinobi as a whole. He heard a soft step behind him.

"You know boy, you did very well." Eva purred with a grin "For one who didn't know how to use the vampiric abilities, you defeated a powerful man. Not something most children can do."

"Be that as it may, I still wasn't able to do a thing against my father…Will I ever be able to beat him? Will I ever find peace in his death?" Junichi asked quietly.

"The truth is, I don't know. Long ago when I was a human, my father used to tell me that if we were not meant to see into the future, and that we had to live each day as it was. After many, many years, I have finally begun to understand the wisdom of the many things he told me, and I'll one day tell you."

"Eva sama, why did you choose to come to me? You said that you came here by choice, but why?" Junichi asked.

"I felt the need to see humanity again. I wanted to be with humans again and see them with eyes that were human. Vampirism is like a disease. Many vampires go insane and kill themselves after a few hundred years of life. Through you, I was able to relive what I lost." Eva stated simply as she crossed her arms over her rather busty chest.

"When do I get to meet the other guy?" Junichi inquired quickly after Eva finished speaking.

"You get to meet him when he chooses you are ready to accept his power" Eva said as if she were telling a child to be patient "I will say though, that I have met him, and he is a strange fellow. He sees things in a different spectrum from normal people, and he is more powerful than even I."

"I see" Junichi said as he stood up and strapped the sword to his back "Well, I think that's about all I wanted to know for now. I hope nobody sees me talking to absolutely nothing. They'll lock me away for good."

"Oh, you'd be surprised boy." Eva answered with a grin as she faded away into thin air, not leaving any trace that she may have been there.

Junichi walked toward the gate where he would meet his team to leave, knowing that he would make everything okay for his people and for his mother's memories. He knew because he would train every day to be stronger than the last day.

"It is saddening to see you leave." Gaara said unemotionally "You are a good fighter Junichi, and I have respect for you."

"You too Gaara." Junichi said with a smirk "Don't let that shukaku push you around. If it's your body, you're the boss."

"If you don't write me I'll send you a bomb and you'll die a horrible death!" Temari almost yelled at Saotome who was flinching from the noise, and the death threat.

"Don't worry about it!" Saotome exclaimed as he lifted his arms in the air as if he were some sort of mob boss "I got everything covered dollface, I promise I will write every day."

"Did you just call me dollface?" Temari asked angrily as a vein popped out on her forehead.

"Well…yeah…" Saotome said, unsure of what would have been the right answer to this question. It turns out "no" would have been good. "no ma'am" would have been and even better answer. She punched him in the face, like many women had.

"All of you people freak me out," Kankuro said to the departing shinobi "Especially Junichi. That whole demon thing was just plain weird. If I'm in Kohona, I'll probably go out of my way to avoid you."

The Kohona ninja left smiling as they could hear Kankuro's screams in the background as Temari pulverized him. They had all come out of this mission alive and they were feeling like they were on top of the world. Home would never be so warmly accepted in all of their lives.

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Yeah...short one, but still pretty good nonetheless. Now on to review responses! I have new reviews!

Shang: yeah...that interview thing...I'd rather forget it...As for the story, thanks. Kankuro doesn't know how to go with the flow. Don't worry, I get him later. As for Junichi's father...alls I gots to say about him is don't make any assumptions about him just yet.

Mayaku-chan: yeah...that's about what it sums itself up to...don't be too hard on her, I didn't develop her character too well and...she's not very interesting. I'd rather just cut her loose, but I have to explain it...poor Kanoe...


	18. Chapter 18

Two months had passed since that dreaded mission. The missions after had all been D rank. Every single one was a boring, repetitive, demeaning task that someone else was too lazy to do. It must have been the greatest time in their lives.

They kept up their training though. They didn't train together, except on private time, which basically consisted of Saotome walking back into Junichi's neck of the woods for sparring or learning new jutsus. Junichi was still plugging away like always, trying extra hard to learn how to use Zabuza's mammoth blade. Ayane hadn't been seen training since they came back. She still seemed the same as always, but the boys were smart enough to know that she was training hard with seals. Saotome was even taking it up a notch by training with a guy named Rock Lee he had somehow gotten in touch with and was improving his taijutsu dramatically. It was even rumored that he had a black bowl cut wig that he wore while training with his new acquaintance, though his teammates knew not why. They had never met Rock lee or his creepy instructor. In fact, they had never met any other team for that matter, and were beginning to wonder why.

"Hey Kanoe-sensei" Saotome said one day as he took a break from pulling weeds out of some fat lady's garden "Why is it that we have had no contact with other teams. We've not only not fought them, we haven't met any of them. I don't know if I'm being illogical or anything, but that's weird man."

"Well…I suppose I could get you to work with team number…" Kanoe said, trailing off as she thought of a genin team that would be good training for her pupils "Team…Seven, I think would be acceptable."

"Who's the jounin instructor? Is he tough or something, because we kick ass and you know it." Saotome said with a grin as he crossed his arms over his chest smugly.

"The instructor is Hatake Kakashi." Kanoe said shortly "Him and I go back. I think I could swing it for you if you think you're up to it."

"Hey moron!" Junichi said angrily at his teammate as he swung a large piece of wood at his head, causing Saotome to fall over in pain "Get back to work and quit slackin off to make the rest of us do it!"

"Saotome and I were just discussing our team training with Hatake Kakashi's team. It was his idea really, and I think I'm going to talk with him. I guess you can meet me in the training area to wait for his team."

Junichi picked Saotome up and dusted him off politely and went back to work quietly, letting him spend the rest of the mission slacking off.

The next day everybody showed up on time, except for Kanoe for some odd reason. Junichi was calmly meditating under a tree while Saotome was tuning his guitar in anticipation.

"Hey Saotome kun, what exactly have you been doing while training at that Rock Lee guy's place? I've never heard of him." Ayane asked inquisitively, even though her training was more mysterious than theirs.

"Well, It's mainly taijutsu stuff." Saotome replied lazily as he scratched the back of his head "He's got me wearing all sorts of training weights and stuff. It's really annoying but I know its good for me, especially since I'm going to excel in taijutsu."

"I see…" Ayane said thoughtfully "Have you learned any new jutsus from Junichi kun? I know you've been training with him too."

"It's mainly control work." Saotome said with a shrug, trying to be cool and play it off "I've been trying to work with my demon too. He's a stubborn bastard though, and wants some kind of test before I can fully bring out his power."

It was at that moment the members of team seven showed up. At first there was complete silence as their two teams met for the first time. Then there was a little bit more silence as they stared each other down, with the exception of Junichi who was still meditating.

"So you guys are that other team." The female of the group said, trying to break the silence "I'm Haruno Sakura, these are my teammates Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto."

"That's right! I'm Uzumaki Naruto! One day I will be the future hokage of Kohona village!" Naruto yelled as he gave a "nice guy pose" as Saotome recognized it.

"Whoah little dude. Slow down. If you keep being loud like that some enemy village'll get you before you hit thirteen." Saotome said. Naruto fumed at this remark but Sakura managed to beat him into obedience "Anyways, I'm Nagama Saotome. I'm a sexy beast. That's Ogoru Ayane, she's overly nice. And the creepy guy behind us is …uh…Junichi. We don't know his surname."

"Is your instructor always late, or is this something out of the ordinary for you" Sakura asked politely.

"I dunno, I don't pay attention or nothing." Saotome said, as he looked them all over again, trying to decide whether he could take any of them or not.

"I would like to say we've heard good things about you, but we haven't… But I'm sure we will one day in the future!" Ayane piped in enthusiastically as Saotome rubbed a hand over his face.

It was at this moment that Kanoe walked up with a large box over her shoulder. She had a creepy smile on her face and was jostling the box all around.

"Hey, why are you late? What the hell is that box?" Saotome asked suspiciously as he eyed the box.

"Well, I had to take care of an errand and then…" Kanoe said as she threw the box down and opened the lid, revealing a tied up silver haired jounin "I had to walk here. I was sure you wouldn't mind."

"Wow, Kakashi-sensei, you let a woman put you in a box and carry you around!" Naruto gasped, seeing his instructor in a tight position

"Well Naruto, I think I should tell you that most women don't think logically, and tend to be slightly insane. The woman who put me in this box is a perfect example of such behavior." The jounin replied before Kanoe shut the box again and sat on the lid.

"Well, for now its just an all out team battle. Team seven against team…whatever number we are." Kanoe said boredly "Just don't kill each other or anything. I don't want that kind of paperwork."

It was at this point that Junichi stood up and looked at the team in front of him with a grin. He pulled Zabuza's sword out from behind the tree. He had left it there so he could surprise the new team and intimidate them, but they had a different reaction than he expected.

"Where the hell did you get that sword! It looks way too much like…" Naruto yelled, trailing off at the end as he realized the answer when he looked into Junichi's eyes.

"I earned it in the heat of battle against a fierce opponent." Junichi said with a devilish grin. He was trying hard to freak them out and put them on edge.

Without warning, he swung the sword at the opposing team as his own team disappeared into the woods to prepare for the sneak attack. All of the members of team seven ducked, under the blow with barely a hair's width of space between them and the sword.

Sasuke and Sakura jumped back behind Naruto to back him up in case he fell. Naruto lunged forward with all his might, several kunai sandwiched between his knuckles. Junichi met the attack with a sword slash right across Naruto's chest. Naruto rolled to the side and made the punch to Junichi's gut. At the last minute though, Junichi took a hand off his sword and held it at Naruto's chest and let forth a chakra burst that sent Naruto flying several feet back towards his teammates.

"What the hell did you do!" Sakura yelled as she inspected Naruto's chest to find no evidence of a wound except the wind knocked out of him.

"It's similar to the Hyuuga's Jyuken, except it doesn't affect the tenketsu, but the actual physical body with devastating effect." Junichi said as he rammed his sword into the dirt behind him. He then held out his hand and gave the infamous Morpheus "bring it on stance" as he said, "It will take more than one of you to take me down."

This time Sasuke rushed in, followed closely by Sakura and then a slightly wary Naruto. Junichi drew his fuuma shuriken and spun them in his hands as they approached. Sasuke threw a few projectiles at him to throw him off balance before he went in with the killing blow. Junichi blocked the shuriken with his spinning fuuma shuriken and then kicked Sasuke in the stomach as he ran forward. Sasuke ducked under the blow and kicked Junichi in the back, landing the hit between his shoulder blades…until his foot went straight through the body and it turned into a large rock, weighing Sasuke's leg down greatly.

"What sort of jutsu is this? How the hell did my leg go through him?" Sasuke asked incredulously as he tried to loosen the boulder's grip on his leg.

"Its only my binding kawamari Uchiha!" Junichi said as he somehow managed to land behind Sasuke from somewhere and then hit the boy with a roundhouse kick to the head.

"You bastard! Nobody beats us so easily! I'm going to take you down!" Naruto yelled as about fifteen clones appeared around him.

"I wouldn't think so hastily my friend. I too know kage bunshin." Junichi said with a grin as fifteen assorted evil looking warriors of unknown origin or history surrounded him. "Its my kage bunshin of course…Its basically the same, except it creates a copy of someone else."

The two forces collided in an all out battle royale, ending with both boys standing there as their clones finished each other off. For a time, they stared into each other's eyes before Junichi grinned and began to laugh.

"What's so goddamed funny? We're about to get serious on you!" Naruto yelled at his eccentric opponent.

"It's only the fact that all of you could beat me if you tried…especially the Uzumaki. He could beat me very easily. But none of you apply yourselves correctly. For this matter, I must retire and let my teammates take care of you until you can come up with a better strategy." Junichi said as he held his hands in the tiger seal and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"He's strong" Sasuke said quietly as he stared at the rock attached to his leg before finally smashing it against a tree "He makes those jutsus himself. Any normal jutsu wont be able to get him. I'm sure he has a better copy for each one."

"What I want to know is why he said that Naruto kun could beat him easily?" Sakura asked as she eyed Naruto suspiciously.

Naruto was about to make up an answer when they heard a guitar playing behind them. They all wheeled around to see Saotome sitting on a rock, enjoying the sun and playing away on that guitar of his with many years of skill pouring through his fingertips.

"What the hell are you doing over there? You're supposed to be fighting us you loser!" Naruto yelled at him angrily.

"Man, somebody is soooo going to kill you." Saotome said with a sigh as he rubbed a hand over his face "I'm surprised they haven't gotten you already with your loud mouth going off all the time."

Naruto ran at Saotome with killing intent in his eyes. He jumped into the air and dived downward at the smiling boy as he stood there calmly, ready to take the blow for some strange reason. Meanwhile, their instructors watched them carefully.

"Your genin have great teamwork." Kakashi commented, obviously impressed "They're taking turns fighting so they can relay information to each other and rest. Not only that, but that Junichi boy is quite amazing for his age."

"Junichi has the power, but he's about as sharp as a bowling ball. Saotome was number one in his class, but he's a lazy, spaced-out, idiot. Ayane…Ayane is almost completely useless. Junichi taught her one jutsu he made up, but other than that, she can't do anything. No taijutsu, no genjutsu, no ninjutsu, she can't set up traps, she can't think ahead, she can barely use her blood limit, and she's annoyingly upbeat." Kanoe said with a sigh as she looked over at the silver haired jounin as they sat on the same tree branch. She was amazed he wasn't reading his perverted book for once, but watching the battle intensely.

"Such a mismatched team" Kakashi said as he shook his head in near disbelief that such people would be put together "Sakura is trying to find her niche, while Sasuke is trying to maintain his position over Naruto while Naruto… well we all know about him don't we."

"You know…I wouldn't put my money on Naruto just yet." Kanoe said with a smile "Junichi's father. His name is Kagame Kiske. I'm sure you remember him from that one mission, correct?"

"Kiske is his father?" Kakashi said calmly "That guy was nearly as bad as Orochimaru when it came to experiments. The guy sacrificed his wife so he could confer with demons…wait, you're not trying to say that…"

"Yep." Kanoe said almost boredly "Kiske is alive and well, and Junichi has a demon that talks to him. It seems that others who come in contact with him gain the power of demons as well. I wouldn't be surprised if Saotome or Ayane started talking to demons sooner or later."  
"That's slightly concerning" The silver haired jounin said with a smile "Of course having demonic powers would greatly aid the village. We would be almost unstoppable."

"But the question is, what price are you willing to pay for it? Accepting demonic power has to come at some sort of price. I'm worried about these children. I don't know if they'll be able to handle the trials and tribulations they have to go through to deal with these things." Kanoe said as she looked off into the distance.

Naruto flew through the tree with a loud crash as Saotome's fist went back to normal. Thinking back, Naruto saw the initial flaw that led to serious pain. As he had rushed in and attacked, Saotome turned out to be nothing but a bunshin and the real Satome was disguised as the rock the bunshin had been sitting on. Naruto was then caught up in a whirlwind of taijutsu, ending finally with something Saotome called "Burning Fist".

Sasuke stepped up to Saotome and stood there calmly. Saotome stared at him for a second and then laid his guitar down before he reached into his pocked and pulled out a black bowl cut wig and two large fake eyebrows and put them on in that order before standing readily.

"Oh my god! You look just like Lee san!" Sakura yelled as she got shivers thinking about Kohona's self proclaimed "Azure Beast"

"I think its time to test my true skills. Come and hit me if you can." Saotome said confidently as he watched the Uchiha activate his Sharingan.

Sasuke ran in at his opponent, knowing this would be strictly taijutsu and went to uppercut his adversary. Saotome was too quick for such things and ducked down to deliver a kick to Sasuke's stomach. Sasuke leapt over the attack and whirled around to punch Saotome in the face. Saotome blocked the attack with his arm and gave Sasuke a quick punch to the gut, then another, then three more before ending with an uppercut that sent Sasuke into the air.

Sasuke got up slowly and wiped the blood from his mouth. He should have known better to attack a taijutsu specialist that had apparently been training with Rock Lee head on. If he were to get anywhere, he would have to use ninjutsu.

Saotome quickly started to form several hand seals and shoved his fist into the air, where it suddenly caught on fire that burned blue, the color of human chakra. Then with a grin, he ran at the stunned Uchiha who was able to dodge the attack. Sasuke took the opportunity and punch the attacking boy in the stomach but with a poof, the body turned into a log. Then the real Saotome popped up behind him and gave him a hard punch to the back with his burning hand, sending waves of pain up his body. Saotome was still grinning until the Uchiha's body turned into a log and he felt kunai cut into his arms, rendering them useless.

"You made the mistake of giving me recovery time, and then assumed me to be as smart as Naruto." Sasuke said coldly from behind the paralyzed guitar player.

"I see. You are a worthy opponent Uchiha san." Saotome said without looking at him "Now go ahead and knock me out for the sake of your record."

Sasuke walked up and knocked the boy unconscious with a quick blow to the back of the head. Sakura was pulling a singed Naruto to his feet as Sasuke began to look around. Suddenly he found his feet to be rooted to the ground. He looked down and saw two odd looking pieces of paper covering his feet. Then, without warning, something covered his mouth and then his eyes and he couldn't move or speak at all.

Sakura was berating Naruto for falling for such an easy trap and getting pummeled by someone like Saotome and then bragging about how Sasuke beat him when she actually looked over at Sasuke and saw that he was frozen in place with pieces of paper covering his face, legs, and arms. She whirled around and saw Ayane standing in front of her with a sweet smile on her face.

"I'm really sorry I have to do this but I want to prove that I'm not useless to my teammates." Ayane said as she pulled out several more strange papers.

"What the hell did you do to Sasuke kun?" Sakura asked incredulously. She had never seen or heard of anybody using paper to fight before.

"They're paralysis seals." Ayane said beaming with pride "I made them myself. He'll be fine if you pull them off, or he's too strong for them and pulls them off himself. I have to ask that you don't tear them because they're really hard to make and I want to save them."

Sakura stood readily with Naruto still panting from his last encounter with one of this strange team's genin. In her mind, Sakura did her best to think up a plan. Without warning though, Ayane skipped, not ran, not walked, but skipped, toward them. Sakura took out several shuriken and threw them at her. Ayane smiled and held out her hand as the shuriken disappeared and then reappeared flying back at them.

Sakura's eyes widened as she ducked under her own projectiles. Then she saw one of the pieces of paper floating in front of her. Quickly she read the kanji for fire on it and was barely able to register what was going on when it suddenly exploded, sending her flying across the field. Sakura stood up and shakily looked around for her opponent. It suddenly occurred to look up and found Ayane standing on a branch with her hands completing the final part of a chain of hand seals with a smile. Around Sakura's feet seals started to gather and stick to her legs. More and more began to come and stuck themselves up her legs and went along until she was completely covered like a mummy and fell over with a thud.

Ayane looked down proudly at her work. It had taken her a long time to work that jutsu out and this was the first time she had gotten it completely right. She had worked very hard to get where she was right now. She jumped down but suddenly felt danger and whirled around to see Naruto give her a punch to the face that actually knocked her out flat.

Naruto went straight to Sakura and started trying to pull the seals off of her without tearing them, like Ayane had asked, when he heard someone clapping from behind him. Without even turning around, he knew who it was. The only remaining member of this team of freaks. It was the king of freaks.

"Now, the stage is set, and we can really fight." Junichi said with a maniacle grin, positively giddy that he could get a chance to fight Kyuubi.

"I don't know what you're talking about you crazed weirdo! You keep going on about something but I have no clue what you're talking about!" Naruto turned around and shouted at him, trying hard to play dumb.

"Your demon Uzumaki, I wish for a duel with the demon Kyuubi." Junichi said with a condescending tone. He was really laying this creepiness thing on thick. He was more like his father than even he knew "We both know of your REAL power. Just unleash it and I'll do the rest."

"It's not that simple…" Naruto said with his head lowered "I can't just unleash it whenever I please! He has to say it's okay."

"Then let me see" Junichi said simply as he made a couple of one handed seals and activated a mind reading jutsu he had pick up from stealing the Yamanaka clan's scrolls and, of course, making his own jutsu, which he activated by quickly touched Naruto's head before he could do anything.

Instantly both boys found themselves in what appeared to be a sewer. Naruto had somehow fallen into the filth and was lying at Junichi's feet but didn't seem to notice as he got up and looked around at his surroundings.

"Where are we?" Naruto asked quizzically, completely unaware of what loomed at the end of the tunnel.

"We are inside your mind, near the Kyuubi seal to be exact," Junichi said simply as if he were unimpressed and completely expected what was around him. "Come, we must go to the end of the tunnel. I'll have a talk with this Kyuubi, more for my own curiosity than your mental health mind you."

"What the hell are you talking about!" Naruto yelled rather loudly, completely dumbfounded STILL. For some reason it didn't click in his mind, pun intended, where exactly he was until he followed Junichi down the hall and saw the gargantuan cage bars in front of him. He didn't register the fear until he felt the hot breath of the demon blow past him and then saw the one murderous eye stare straight at him."

"**KIT! WHY HAVE YOU LET YOUR ENEMY GET THE BEST OF YOU LIKE THIS!" **The Kyuubi demanded with a ear splitting roar "**YOU AREN'T DESERVING OF MY PRESENCE YET! COME BACK WHEN YOU BECOME STRONG!"**

"Kyuubi!" Junichi yelled back at the snarling demon "He has every right to search his own mind! Forget not that he is the only reason you are able to live!"

"Hey man, lets not make him mad…" Naruto whimpered, trying to get over Junichi's audacity at speaking with one of the most powerful demons in known creation.

"**WHO ARE YOU TO SPEAK WITH ME WITH SUCH IMPUDENCE? YOU ARE NOTHING MORE THAN A HUMAN MORTAL!" **They Kyuubi bellowed in rage.

"Demon, it was your hubris that sealed your fate and it is your hubris that torments you in this mind prison." Junichi said cockily as he crossed his arms over his chest "You gambled it all on one attack and lost and now you rage over it because you believed yourself to be unstoppable. Who are YOU to talk to ME about being human when you demonstrated a perfect example of one of mankind's most constant imperfections!"

There was silence from the cage for a time and Naruto stared wide-eyed at the boy in front of him who showed no fear of the demon, who openly disgraced him, who stood within ten feet of the giant bars and looked straight into the eye of a demon. Junichi was no normal boy, that was certain.

"**Human, your words ring true."** The Kyuubi quietly admitted almost shamefully "**It takes one of strong will to stand before me and defile my good name. Would I be correct in guessing you to be of the clan Kagame?"**

**"**It's not such a feat." Junichi said with a grin "You're behind the bars remember. And I am Junichi, son of a murderous father, disciple of forgotten arts, heir to the desolate name that is Kagame."

"**I should have guessed as much. Your father was respected for his human skill in the demon world, though I have never seen that land"** They Kyuubi said sadly as he thought of his true homeland "**I sense demons within you as well. Tread with care, for your unessential is not sealed as I am, and can strike anyone without warning."**

"Fortunately the demon that I am able to speak with is human-like in nature." Junichi said calmly "What do you mean by 'unessential' demon? Is there more that the great Kyuubi would be willing to teach me of demon nature?"

**"Within most humans are their own demons that come not from another realm. This was how my own life began and the reason I never saw those demonic plains. Only every once in a while can a human awaken their inner demon and reach their true potential, but with the aid of another demon…it might just be possible for you."** The Kyuubi stated mystically as if he had become a sort of divine prophet **"Should you awaken that power, develop it to its fullest extent, for it is a truly rare thing for a human to invoke such power."**

"Thank you for your words of wisdom great Kyuubi." Junichi said with a bow "I do hope that you and I can speak again one day. Until then I ask that you aid the Uzumaki boy and help him to become as great as he allows himself."

"**I will do what I can for the kit, though I will not fight his battles for him."** The Kyuubi replied with a condescending growl at a stupefied Naruto "**He needs his own strength before he can attempt to harness mine. Now go, Kagame and Uzumaki, and battle out a bond of brotherhood."**

Suddenly they were standing back on the training ground where they had disappeared from. Naruto was about to curl up into a little ball for the sake of his sanity when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"It just takes a special touch when dealing with demons. They require a different things than humans and should never be treated fully as one." Junichi said with a smirk as he looked down at Naruto.

"How…Where did you learn to do that? And why were you talking all weird with him? Why was my mind a gutter? How did he know what I was doing?" Naruto fired of the questions rapidly, barely taking time to breath.

"I've done some illegal things. You can't just talk to him regularly unless he deems it okay, it's just not what you do with demons. That part of your mind is a gutter because of the Kyuubi's anger, and it should clear up if you and him become better acquainted. And finally, he knows everything you do and is actually slightly interested in you, your friends, and how your story will play out." Junichi replied in order of the question.

"So…you have demons too." Naruto said as he kicked a clod of dirt absent-mindedly "What kind of demon do you have?"

Junichi grinned as an image of Eva faded into view behind him. It was only an image he had asked her to create for him, but it would do to get the point across.

"Her name is Eva. She is a vampire." Junichi said simply as the image faded away "Saotome actually has a demon too. It's a wolf of some sort but he won't give out his name and he won't lend his strength until Saotome does something or another…"

"Does Ayane have a demon too? What does it look like?" Naruto asked excitedly, literally bouncing up and down with joy.

"We don't know actually." Junichi said as he scratched the back of his head "She hasn't made any contact with the entity, so we're not sure she even has one. I do believe however that she has a special power deep down that might very well be more powerful than even she knows though…but I digress. We should get back to our duel and get this over with."

Junichi kneeled under his sword panting some minutes later. Across the field Naruto was in the same position. It truly had been a glorious fight just as Junichi wanted. People were like putty in his hands.

"The battle…has not…been decided yet…Uzumaki…" Junichi said between gasps for breath.

"Never…underestimate…the power of…my nindo…"Naruto said, almost perfectly mirroring Junichi's current state.

Both boys ran at each other at exactly the same time. Junichi swung his blade, expecting the upcoming counter. Naruto ducked under the blade and gave Junichi a good uppercut. Junichi took the hit stubbornly, knowing his opening would be right here. He suddenly let go of the blade and grabbed Naruto by the neck and put a palm to his chest, releasing a chakra burst that ripped through the skin on Naruto's back and sprayed blood on the trees.

"You didn't have to be so rough." Naruto complained as he passed out and fell to Junichi's feet.

Junichi suddenly looked at his right arm as a long slice suddenly appeared from shoulder to wrist and sprayed blood for a second before clotting some. Naruto's forward assault hadn't been totally wasted. Junichi let his one useless arm dangle by his side and a limped on a fractured leg over to the tree where both team's sensei's were sitting pleasantly and talking about something that had little to no relevance no doubt.

"Hey… we all kinda…need to go to the hospital now." Junichi breathed before passing out with both senseis' watching him with mild interest. Sometimes jounin annoyed the hell out of Junichi.


	19. Chapter 19

Everybody was starting to find their purpose. Saotome as getting better with his taijutsu, though his team had decided they didn't want to meet Rock Lee after some time of observing Saotome's behavior and fighting styles. Saotome was also taking a few pages out of Junichi's book and trying to make his own jutsus. Most of them were something applied to the hands or legs that enabled him to use his taijutsu more efficiently.

Ayane was deep in her seal training. Nobody saw her except for the demeaning missions that were still as bittersweet as when they returned from the sand. Supposedly she was learning new seals every day and her parents were slightly worried because of all the paper she was using up and that they never saw again.

Junichi was slowly gaining more and more disciples. Nobody ever really planned on going to Junichi's neck of the woods, or came regularly. It was just something that would happen. People would migrate to him to learn of him and his techniques, which he shared freely. Naruto was especially interested in learning of Kyuubi and techniques he could learn with the demon's chakra, though Junichi told him repeatedly he had to do that on his own.

Sasuke was usually training back at the Uchiha compound where he still lived. If he wasn't training there, he would drop by Junichi's place for the latest jutsu he was coming up with or to get tips on jutsu he was trying to do himself. Junichi was somewhat more knowledgeable about ninjutsu than some of the jounin instructors, though he failed to be able to stump Kakashi, the lazy bastard.

Junichi stood in the middle of a small dusty clearing behind his house without a shirt, the way he preferred to train in case anyone came to see him. Today he was practicing on his ultimate goal, flight. He believed if shinobi could walk on walls and water, why not air? He gathered tremendous amounts of chakra into his feet and released it slowly and evenly, as if trying to construct wooden blocks under his feet. Little by little, his feet began to inch their way off of the ground until he was a good three feet in the air, kicking up all manner of dust and leaves under him. Then he let the chakra explode suddenly from one leg he suddenly tilted slightly and he flew in the opposite direction of the tilted leg straight for a tree. Quickly he whipped out that same leg and let chakra burst from it again while using his free leg to keep himself up, and he flew off into the sky. He did a quick front flip in the air and landed on the ground neatly, completely exhausted, but neat.

"You've never come here before." Junichi said slowly, sensing the presence of the being before it was even visible "Have you come here to train or to talk?"

Sakura stepped out meekly from behind a tree and kept staring at him. She had heard him speak of flying, but assumed it was a joke. In theory it could work, but in theory only…or so she supposed. In order to do such things, he must have nearly unending stamina and perfect control.

"I'm here to see if you can teach me anything" Sakura said uncomfortably around a shirtless Junichi "I think I could win Sasuke kun if were only stronger. He needs a strong woman by his side, not a weak one."

"You know, any male person living in Kohona could have told you that had you asked in an understandable and unembarrasing manner." Junichi said with one eyebrow raised and a smirk on his face. He enjoyed the first visits of everyone who came. Most of the time they were very nervous, just right for messing with.

"S-so what!" Sakura said angrily yet afraid to get too angry "I'm going to win Sasuke kun over by being strong and it doesn't matter how I figured it out!"

"Well, we should go back to the house. You can't train in that." Junichi said as he took a towel off of a nearby tree branch and headed back towards his house with Sakura following shyly behind.

Several minutes later Sakura had locked herself in Junichi's room he had let her use for changing. Ever since people started showing up he had gotten sets of clothes he saw fit for training for everybody, including the odd kunoichi he happened to know. He had actually just picked up whatever happened to look most comfortable in the different departments. The sales girl had looked at him oddly when she saw him buying women's clothing.

"I'm not coming out in this! I'll feel like a complete slut!" Sakura yelled through the door as Junichi was rubbing his temples in frustration of trying to figure a way out of this situation.

"Nobody cares what you look like, least of all me." Junichi said half defeatedly "And besides, there's nobody else around, just come out and we can get back to training."

Sakura slowly opened the door and stepped out. She was wearing what looked like normal gray athletic wear, except it consisted of a top and shorts, which barely covered any skin at all.

"Y-you promise?" Sakura asked as she stared at the ground and put her arms protectively over her chest.

Now you have to understand something. Junichi was hardworking and training was his main goal in life. He didn't care about the opposite sex hardly at all, unless they were a teammate or a trainee. But he was a guy. And being a guy entails many things, and has its own rules that cannot be broken under any circumstances. There are dead men burning in hell that were thinking about sex while demons tortured them.

"I promise. Now go and call your parents or whoever because you wont be leaving tonight and I won't carry you." Junichi said, using all his willpower not to widen his eyes in shock. He had unwittingly given birth to a very sexy beast. He hadn't looked at what he bought, and now he was starting to understand why the sales girl had looked at him oddly. It was worth it though, definitely. All he had to do now was get in contact with more women.

Sakura left the room relieved and Junichi made sure she was gone before doing a small victory dance at his genius mistake. Soon he regained his composure though, and went straight to the kitchen as Sakura hung up the phone.

"What do you wish to excel in? I know a little bit about a lot of things so I'm sure I can be of some help." Junichi said as he poured himself a small glass of water and handed her one as well.

"I don't really know." Sakura said as she looked down at her feet "I thought about doing whatever it was Ayame chan did, but I've never even heard of seal fighting before so I imagine that its' very difficult. I don't have the speed or the power for taijutsu and my stamina is too bad for ninjutsu."

"There are other things besides that you know." Junichi said as he downed his glass in one gulp "Think about what you're good at and work from there."

"Well…" Sakura though as she looked at the ceiling now, trying to avoid looking at him "Kakashi sensei says that I have better control than Naruto kun or Sasuke kun! I bet I could do some of the things you do with chakra manipulation, or…medical jutsu!"

"I know nothing of ijutsu." Junichi said plainly, causing Sakura to face fault "In my opinion, the best ijutsu is not getting hit. And if I don't get hit by becoming extra strong elsewhere, so be it."

"Well, maybe I could learn some genjutsu. That would be really good for helping my team out." Sakura said, a little put off by his inadequate knowledge of EVERYTHING. Women…

"That, I can help you with." Junichi said with a grin "Of course you can't be as sweet as you are now. In order to create effective genjutsu, you have to put your opponent in a state of such frenzy that they break down or pass out."

"Wait a minute!" Sakura said abruptly "Why do you think I'm so sweet? I can be tough if I want to. Ow! I broke a nail again!"

Junichi rubbed a hand over his face in mental exhaustion. These women were sucking his brain dry of sane thoughts. Most of them weren't completely sane anyway because of demons and a rough childhood without a shrink, but he did have some good thoughts in there. Well not anymore. He was almost completely blaming it on the females. He gave about ten percent to his insane father.

Junichi simply walked back to his handmade shed, got some weights, and then went out into the forest towards one of his favorite control training areas. That's right, he had each part of the woods behind his house dedicated to certain things. Organization was the key here.

"Here is where you will learn to walk on water" Junichi said, motioning towards a large pond "To begin, you will go out in the middle of the water and you will stand there until you either pass out or I deem you able to come in. I'll be training within eyesight so don't worry. I only tell you to apply the minimum amount of chakra necessary and you should be able to go for several hours once you get the technique down."

"What are those weird weights for?" Sakura asked warily. She didn't like the way he heaved them around as if they were very heavy.

"What? These?" Junichi said, playing dumb "I haven't really decided yet. I could use them for my training, or I could be harder on you. Just try to get the water walking down before I decide."

Sakura looked at him strangely for a second before she gathered her chakra in her feet and slowly stepped out on the water. The first time she fell straight into the water with a splash. It wasn't cold or hot or anything. It was actually kind of refreshing. On her second attempt she managed to keep herself up to her knees as she slowly waded out toward the center. It took her a while but she finally started to rise in the water very slowly.

On the shore Junichi smirked. Water walking was difficult when first starting off. With practice, it became like second nature, but those first few weeks of training were always like hell. Junichi wondered whether or not he should stir up any trouble. Sakura was in a very vulnerable position, and he liked messing with people's head like that. He almost thought he was hallucinating for a second when a giant snake appeared at the other edge of the lake. At first he thought it was the answer to his mischevious prayers, but then it hit him that the snake was too big to be a real animal.

"SAKURA! RUN FOR IT!" He yelled to her in panic as he started to rush at her as the same time the snake did.

Sakura saw Junichi running towards her. He looked very frightened by something, and then she turned around and saw the snake and almost passed out from fright. Luckily, she kept her composure and ran back to shore faster than she even thought was physically possible.

Junichi knew a thing or two about predators. It was kind of like his thing, if you know what I mean. Predators were very predictable if you knew what to look for. Junichi jumped into the air in front of the snake only to have it gulp him down in one greedy bite.

Sakura screamed from the beach. The freaking snake just ate Junichi and looked to be very satisfied about it. It started to slowly slither towards her when suddenly it stopped. Without warning, the snake suddenly had a hole blown in its throat, out of which stepped a very sticky Junichi.

Junichi calmly bent down to the water and started to wash himself off as the dead serpent turned into a puff of smoke. With that, a very scary man stepped out from his hiding place on the other side. He was tall, with long black hair down to his waist and slitted eyes. He was definitely on the top of the creepy list.

"Very good, you know the best way to destroy a predator." The man said with a strange grin.

"I destroy that which threatens me." Junichi said calmly as he stood up seriously "In this way, I am the predator. My prey is that which hunts those I protect. The only object of prey is to be destroyed, and the predator is the destroyer. If I weren't as good a predator, my people would fall and everything I value would sink into darkness."

"Stirring speech boy, but I don't think it will save you." The man said creepily, like everything else about him "I am here for the Uchiha boy. He will be a wonderful host, but first, I feel I need to get you out of the way to get him to me. I will have him, or I am not Orochimaru, one of the three sannin."

"I care not for your name or yourself." Junichi said shortly "If you threaten my friends, you threaten me, and if you threaten me, you die."  
In a sudden explosion of chakra, Junichi was suddenly in the air right above Orochimaru. He shot out his palm towards the strange man to shoot a chakra burst. Orochimaru was a hundred times quicker and had many years more experience however and caught Junichi by the throat as easily as a venus fly trap catches a fly. Thus it's called a fly trap.

Junichi grinned as his body suddenly turned into a rock and weighed Orochimaru's hand down into the water. Junichi suddenly popped up behind him and unleashed a string of hand seals. As he finished, he held out his right hand and all of the fingers suddenly glowed with electricity that connected above the palm to create a sort of web. A slightly wimpy web, but a web all the same. With all his speed he rushed towards the snake sannin to plunge his grip right around the man's neck, which would have either killed him or sent him into shock.

Orochimaru suddenly wheeled around at the last second and slammed the rock into Junichi's chest, smashing it and sending him flying across the lake, his electric fingers dissipated.

"What was that jutsu you tried to use?" Orochimaru inquired slyly "I have never seen either four you have at least tried to employ thus far."

"The first technique was my chakra burst." Junichi said as he got up slowly and stood up on the water "That was what I used to get behind you and let my binding kawamari in front of you. The technique the kawamari used was a chakra blast, and the last one was my newest one, the lightning claw. Had you been hit, you would have been dead."

"Oh, but boy, surely you must know that you have no chance whatsoever against me." Orochimaru grinned as he performed a few hand seals and placed his hand on the ground, creating a gigantic snake that was so large, it stood itself up from the bottom of the lakes clear waters and let its head sit a good thirty feet above the surface with Orochimaru sitting gleefully on the top "This serpent's skin is much too tough for your feeble jutsu! Prepare to die!"

At this point Junichi would have gashed his arm and paid the extremely high blood price of a dragon summoning jutsu, but he didn't have anything to cut himself with. Thinking quickly he decided to do the next best thing. He balled his hands into fists and crossed them over his chest with his head down. As he did so, a mysterious fog moved in.

Orochimaru was slightly impressed with the boy's performance. He was nowhere near his own level, but for a child he was impressive. It might even be worth while to put the curse seal on him…His musings were cut short however when he saw a figure in front of him with it's arms outstretched offensively as it flew toward him. Without even being needed to be told, the giant snake struck and ripped off the figure's arms, causing it to fall harmlessly to the water limply.

Junichi grinned as his one armed body suddenly turned into bats, along with his severed arm that flew up to the snakes head and reformed behind Orochimaru. This was going to be so much fun.

"You shouldn't underestimate the power of demons, Orochimaru." Junichi said smugly with his strange accent "You should know. You are a sannin after all."

Orochimaru whirled around with no time to even think about how the boy had performed that feat. All he did was strike with strong punches. Junichi dodged all of them with a little dance as he grinned his fanged teeth. Orochimaru suddenly let his tongue out of his mouth, and out of the snake tongue, he pulled out a long sword, which he held readily.

"Do you believe that you'll be able to even hit me with that blade of yours Orochimaru?" Junichi laughed evilly towards the man.

Orochimaru struck with his blade, over and over again, hoping to inflict a wound, and indeed he did. He cut the boy's chest open and smirked as the blood flowed out. Junichi smirked too, as the blood flowed back into the wound and it closed up almost immediately. Orochimaru swung his sword in anger this time, only to have Junichi jump back into the air and stand there calmly with red chakra burning around his feet.

"What are you boy? Are you some sort of demon vessel as well?" Orochimaru asked the floating vampire boy in shock. He didn't know of any record of anybody using these sorts of powers and he had studied these things to an obsessive extent.

"I have the power of great devils, though you could easily beat me if you knew the secret to it." Junichi said with a grin. He outstretched one palm idly and red chakra began gathering around it. With an evil laugh, he let the chakra fly from his palm towards the snake sannin.

Orochimaru felt the power coming towards him and knew only that he would die if it hit him. Or at least, this particular body would die. He cleverly hid himself behind his summoned snake, which took the blow before disappearing. Orochimaru was outgunned at the moment. He would have to plan better or this creature would kill him. With the right game plan, he was certain he could triumph, and so, he retreated without any shame whatsoever into the woods where he wouldn't be found.

Junichi walked over to Sakura with his eyes still red. His fangs were the same, and his skin had not regained a bit of its color. To anybody paying close attention, he was still in demon mode, but to Sakura, who just witnessed something that incredible, she didn't seem to notice his killing aura.

"You were amazing!" Sakura exclaimed but stopped when she saw his hand start twitching "Is your hand allright?"

Without warning, his arms snapped out, one grabbing the back of her neck and twisting her head to the side, and the other supporting her as he tilted her back. With animal like behavior, he opened his mouth and lowered his elongated canines to her neck.

Sakura suddenly woke with a start. She was completely drenched in sweat. She surveyed her surroundings and she found she was standing on land, but Junichi was completely normal, standing a few feet in front of her.

"Wha...What just happened? What did you do to me?" Sakura asked worriedly as she backed away from him.

Junichi had a big grin all over his face. He was clearly having fun with this incident. Messing with the newbies was always a fun pastime of his.

"Sakura, congratulations." He said trying to hold back a laugh "You just experienced your first lesson in genjutsu."


	20. Chapter 20

Saotome sat at their normal meeting place near the woods, playing his guitar idly. He was training hard, using weights and trying to make a few signature jutsu of his own. His training with Lee was going very well, and his taijutsu was making great progress. Through his training, he had become more confident than ever, especially around Junichi, who no longer creeped him out. He had spent enough time with Junichi to know that he was a good guy, who just like to mess with people's heads.

Ayane skipped up cheerfully. She was proud of herself as well. She had been working really hard and was pleased with the outcome. She was no longer the weak link in the team. She probably couldn't take on Junichi or Saotome, but she was making leaps and bounds over where she used to be. She sat down next to Saotome with a giggle.

"Did you have a good day Saotome kun?" She asked as sweetly as possible. She was as nice as can be, so everybody felt bad when they were annoyed by it.

"Well, I imagine it was good." Saotome said "I'm just waiting for the next chuunin exam so I can see Temari chan again."

"Have you two been writing each other regularly? How is everybody doing in the wind country?" Ayane asked with a big smile on her face.

"Everybody's doing fine. Kankuro is still wigging out from the whole cave thing, but there haven't been any more attacks on the village, so they're doing fine. Gaara's been trying to act like a normal person, but he's not doing too good. He was trying to smile and some children started crying. He tries to laugh at jokes and stuff, but it just turns out horrible. He comes off creepier than he really is." Saotome said with a small chuckle.

"That's great!" Ayane said happily "I'm glad to see Gaara kun is finally starting to come around. At first he scared me too, but we got to talking and he's really a nice person. He just doesn't know how to show it."

It was then that Junichi walked up, looking like he had been hit very hard several times. He casually sat down next to a tree and tried not to make conversation.

"Dude, did you lose a fight with a building or something?" Saotome asked stupidly. Buildings can't fight.

"Yeah man. I lost a fight with an inanimate object. It wasn't a building though. It was a spoon in my house. The bastard caught me while I was sleeping and kicked my ass." Junichi said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Oh, long as you didn't break anybody's house, cause then we'd all have to fix it for some lazy person." Saotome said, not catching the sarcasm.

"Good morning everyone" Kanoe said as she suddenly appeared in front of them. "You'll never guess what today is."

"Did you kill Kakashi sensei for random stupidity?" Junichi asked, half serious. He admired Kakashi for his strength, but absolutely abhorred his repeated tardiness.

"Nope, its better than that!" Kanoe said exitedly "The chuunin exam is coming up and I entered you all! All you have to do is sign these papers and go to room 301 tomorrow. I wish you all best of luck. No mission today. Now if you excuse me, I have to meet Kakashi for lunch."

And with that she disappeared, leaving three forms in their hands and shocked looks on their faces. Kanoe and Kakashi…It was freakin weird man.

"Kanoe sensei having lunch with Kakashi sensei…dear god send me to hell right now so I don't have to endure this torment here on earth." Junichi said as he hung his head.

"Amen to that blasphemy brother." Saotome said as he picked up his paper and studied it like he really had to think about what he was looking at.

The next day they all met together and handed their papers in. Not signing up wasn't an option for this team. They began walking up the stairs to get to room 301.

As soon as they walked through the doors they saw a huge gathering of genin standing around. Upon further inspection, they seemed to be trying to get past a door but two guys were standing in front of it. They slowly picked their way through the crowd just as the guys were taken down by Sasuke. Then all they saw was a green blur and then a strange guy wearing green spandex with a bowl cut and huge eyebrows standing in front of him. As soon as he saw him, Saotome stepped forward in front of Sasuke, knowing good and well what was going on.

"Stand down Lee, fighting now would be foolish" Saotome said with a grin "you can kick his ass later dude. You got all the time in the world."

"BUT I MUST SEE IF THE FIRE OF YOUTH BURNS WITHIN HIM!" The creature called Lee shouted.

"Dude I told you to cut that crap out. I also told you that youth doesn't burn, it lightly chills if you're any good at it." Saotome said, though few people knew what he was talking about "You know what Gai sensei would do if he caught you trying to kick everybody's ass? He would deck you. Lay you out flat man. He could snatch your ass in a bear trap for all we know, that guy is crazy."

"GAI SENSEI IS THE GREATEST! IF HE WERE TO DECK ME I'M SURE I WOULD DESERVE IT!" Lee yelled crazily.

"If you don't stop being annoying I'LL deck you." Saotome said, "Don't make me pull out my skills on you, cause you know I will. Like that one time I tied you up and messed with your hair. You looked like an electroshock victim."

"AS ALWAYS YOUR WORDS OF WISDOM RING TRUE!" Lee continued yelling, and now tears were streaming down his face "ONE DAY I WISH TO BE AS WISE AS YOU SAOTOME!"

Then there was hugging. It was by far the strangest thing anybody had seen. Junichi was seriously thinking about taking a kunai to the temple and just forget everything. Many other people had the same thought.

Everybody walked up the next set of stairs and filed into room 301. It was at this point where they met up with the sand trio. Everybody looked happy to see each other, except Kankuro. But nobody cared about him anyway so it didn't matter.

"It feels like its been years and years since we last talked." Temari said to Saotome warmly.

"Well it hasn't." He said rather bluntly "And I've been writing you every single freaking day. So we've been talking for at least three mo-" He didn't get to finish the sentence because Temari punched him in the face, and then picked him up and hugged him. Women…

"Its been a while Junichi san. I assume you've been keeping up with your training." Gaara said calmly, trying to ignore his sister hanging all over Saotome, which he didn't really like but accepted.

"I have Gaara. I only hope you have too, because now I can beat you even easier." Junichi said with a grin to his friend.

"We have to establish some rules this time." Gaara said with a grin "No demons and no summonings."

"But you still have your sand. What do I have?" Junichi asked with sarcastic concern.

"I thought you had been training." Gaara said jokingly, pulling it off well enough to not be considered a weirdo.

"Well you make a good point as always. Good to see you around man." Junichi said as he patted Gaara on the shoulder.

It was now that Saotome and Temari rejoined the rest of the group in normal conversation. Temari was punching Saotome way less than he deserved though, and everybody could tell she was going easy on him. The also began looking around and checking out the other genin standing around. There seemed to be a tall guy with a bunch of cards talking to the members or team seven, so they walked over casually and checked everything out.

"Yo guys." Saotome said as they walked up, his hand around Temari's waist, knowing she wouldn't mind him showing her off in front of people "Glad to see you're all signing up this year."

"Same to you guys!" Naruto said loudly "Who's she Saotome san? Is she your girlfriend or something?"

"As a matter of fact I am" Temari said, rather smugly "So all of Saotome kun's fan girls can just get a life."

"I'm not sure if you're aware of this or not, but Saotome doesn't have any fan girls. He barely has any hygiene." Junichi said with a grin and watched as Temari pummeled Saotome into the ground again. Always fun to see…

"So who is this?" Ayane said, ever so sweetly gesturing towards Kabuto, who was slightly disturbed by Temari beating the crap out of Saotome.

"This guy says his name is Kabuto" Sasuke explained shortly "He has these cards that show information on people."

"That's interesting…How is it you get this information Ka-" Junichi started to say but was cut short by a purple and yellow blur suddenly knocking him to the ground and punching the crap out of his already bruised face.

"I'LL TEACH YOU TO STEAL OUR FAMILY SECRETS YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Yelled and enraged Ino, as several people tried desperately to pull her off of him. Finally Sasuke just touched her on the shoulder and she passed out at the sight of who it was.

"What was she talking about Junichi kun?" Ayane asked innocently "You wouldn't steal techniques from people would you? Because that would be wrong, and I would have to punish you for that."

For some reason, everybody got chills up their spines when she said that, including a bleeding Junichi, who stared at her for a second before replying while trying to stop his nose from bleeding.

"N-no ma'am. I would never steal from anybody because stealing is bad and I'm a good person." Junichi stammered, for some reason. Females…

At that moment the instructor walked in. It was none other than Morino Ibiki. The torture and interrogation specialist of Kohona. With a few words he got everybody to their seats and explained the rules of the written exam they were to take. Junichi looked at Saotome who had his mouth hanging open and shrugged before turning back to Ibiki.

Junichi stared down at his test for a good ten minutes. He was a fairly educated person but he was stumped. This test was way over his head. He idly thought that he could still be qualified to be a chuunin because he knew hundreds of ways to destroy the test, but figured that wasn't what they were testing. The entire thing had to be rigged. Shinobi were taught never to take anything at face value. There had to be something more to this. Junichi put his pencil down and stared at Ibiki for the remainder of the exam…

Saotome's left eye was twitching. He had got number one in his particular class, but man, this test was just too much. Without even a moral battle, he began thinking of ways to cheat. Cheating was good. Saotome liked cheating…. He was about to look over at Naruto's paper, who was sitting next to him, when the blonde started shouting about something or another. Saotome glanced at his paper quickly and saw that there were no answers on it. If Naruto was going in with his pants down, he could too, and he napped the rest of the exam.

Ayane was having problems. She had no intention of cheating in any form. She didn't know any answers to the questions of course, but she certainly wasn't going to go against her morals and cheat. Cheating was just out of the question. Her only chance was to try her hardest to answer the questions. And thus she tried her best to think clearly and answer the hardest questions she had ever come upon.

At the end of the exam everyone gasped as Ibiki laid out the final choice for everyone. It was either answer the question and never be able to advance, or go home and try again some other time. As the minutes ticked by, more and more raised their hands and left the exam.

Ibiki was slightly disappointed. The blonde boy had blasted everyone's fears away and the white haired one was creeping him out majorly, which was hard because he was a specialist in breaking down a person's mind.

"To all those who are left I have to say…" Ibiki said letting the suspense ring "you pass."

Everybody in the room face faulted except for Junichi and Saotome, who was still sleeping. There were uproars of confusion and anger at having to do all that work for nothing. Ibiki calmed everybody down and waved a hand at Junichi, signaling for him to explain.

"All I know is, that Shinobi look underneath the underneath, so this test was complete bull from the start." Junichi explained calmly as everybody stared at him with wide eyes, once again except for Saotome who was still napping "And besides, you can't take the chance to refuse so many genin the chance to ever advance. One day all of the jounin will either die or have to retire and the chounin will move up, the genin have to follow suit and eventually move up to jounin. If you interrupt that pattern, the entire system could crash out from under you. Complete chaos…that and I enjoy these mind games as well."

"Very good boy. You just might have a future in the torture department." He said, knowing full and well that Junichi wouldn't give a care about interrogation.

Just then, what looked like a bullet slammed through the building wall and landed in front of them with a banner held up with kunai waving behind her.

"QUICK TEMARI CHAN, PUT YOUR CLOTHES BACK ON!" Saotome yelled as he jumped up, awoken from the sound of Anko crashing into the room. Everybody stared at him until Temari came over and started beating him with a chair, and got a new one when the first one broke. Everybody ignored his screams of pain and followed Anko to the next area.


	21. Chapter 21

The forest of death. That's what the second stage of the chuunin exam was called. The rules were to get to a certain place with two scrolls, one of which was handed to you, the other you had to find. You had five days to do so. Killing was allowed. The woman named Anko had even gone a little crazy on Naruto. Junichi decided he like Anko.

Junichi, Saotome, and Ayane set off as fast as possible, determined to find another team and steal their scroll quickly and head on to the tower where they could go ahead and rest. They were almost positive they could take care of any opposition they faced.

Three days later, irritability was high. Junichi was pissed off they hadn't found anybody else yet, Saotome was grumpy that his almost all junk food diet was interrupted, and Ayane was trying her best to keep everybody's spirits up but was secretly annoyed at everybody else's lack of happiness. Its as if she thought the stuff grew out of walls or something.

"We should have found somebody by now. Something has to be going on out there." Junichi said anxiously as he paced about.

"Dude, quit pacin', you're makin' me nervous and I don't want to be nervous!" Saotome yelled at him.

"Well you know what, if you did something besides eat, sleep, and complain every once in a while you might be able to relieve some excess tension." Junichi said shortly at him.

"You wanna say that to my face you steroid pumped training addict!" Saotome yelled at him.

"IF EITHER OF YOU DON'T CALM DOWN, THEN SO HELP ME, I'LL BEAT YOU BOTH TO DEATH! NOW SHUTUP AND BE HAPPY!" Ayane yelled at them both, waving a metal ladle dangerously.

"What was that?" Junichi suddenly said as he turned his head to the side "Something's here…something bad is here…we need to go." And bounded off into the woods with the others trailing behind him by quite a distance.

Junichi was in shock at what he saw. In a small clearing, team seven was under attack by the very person that he had used to scare Sakura just a few days before. It was Orochimaru, the snake sannin, and from the looks of it, he had already taken out Sasuke. Without thinking, Junichi jumped in and stood protectively with his sword out in front of Naruto and Sakura.

"Junichi san! You're here!" Naruto yelled as the white haired boy appeared in front of him "This guy showed up and bit Sasuke on the neck and he passed out!"

"Orochimaru…I've only heard tales of you." Junichi said to the snakelike man in front of him "If you think you're going to get away with this, you're sorely mistaken."

"Oh, I'd like to see you try and stop me." He replied with an evil grin "I do hope you provide more of a challenge then these three."

Junichi charged him with his sword out. Orochimaru ducked under the attack easily and his tongue shot out and wrapped itself around Junichi's neck, only to throw him into a tree. Junichi didn't get up for a long time. Then, out of the darkness, came two fuuma shuriken, spinning right at the snake man. Orochimaru dodged boredly, but failed to notice the attack coming down on him until the last second, to which he still sidestepped, to find himself right in the path of an oncoming fuuma shuriken, which he again dodged easily. Junichi then took the opportunity to swing at him again while he was dodging, giving the blow everything he had. Orochimaru kicked the blade into the air and his snake tone shot straight through Junichi's chest.

Junichi let the sword drop and stared down at his impaled chest. From there he coughed up a little blood before the sound of a guitar was heard, causing Junichi to smirk slightly. At that point, seals rained down from the forest canopy, most exploding in the air around Orochimaru and Junichi. Junichi used the distraction and cut the tongue that impaled him with a kunai, causing it to slither back into Orochimaru's mouth. Orochimaru looked into the forest top and jumped all the way up with his own strength, to find Ayane unawares and throw her straight to the ground. As soon as he did so though, Saotome ran at him with a fist that was glowing blue. Orochimaru punched him in the chest and he flew into a tree. Naruto rushed forward with about twelve bunshins but Orochimaru only destroyed them all with his Kusinagi blade and ended with one slice across Naruto's back, sending him out of commission.

The only ones that stood were Junichi and Sakura. Junichi had a hole in his chest, and Sakura wasn't leaving Sasuke. Junichi looked at the sun peering through the trees and shook his head, knowing his vampire demon wouldn't be effective here. Making up his mind quickly, he ran at Orochimaru at full speed with his palm out, preparing to put any and all of his strength into one chakra blast. Orochimaru watched him up until the last second when Junichi jumped, hoping to catch Orochimaru unaware, but the snake sannin jumped as well, and with one slash of the evil blade, Junichi had a deep gash across his stomach, and he fell to the ground.

"What a pitiful bunch of genin." Orochimaru mocked with an evil grin as he slowly faded away into the shadows, leaving the two teams sprawled out all over the clearing.

Saotome was the first one to wake, except for Sakura, who was still holding Sasuke in her arms and sobbing silently. He limped over to her, knowing that he had three broken ribs as soon as he took the first step.

"Saotome san!" Sakura exclaimed in surprise "You are awake! You're the first one up. We've been here for about an hour after he left. Junichi got hurt really bad."

Saotome didn't say a word, he just walked over to his comrades. Since Sakura told him Junichi got the brunt of it, he walked over to him first. She had been right, it was bad. A shinobi couldn't usually be able to take that kind of damage and keep breathing, at least not that Saotome knew. All he could do was bandage the wounds as best he could. He didn't know anything about medical jutsu or healing wounds in general, but he knew how to bandage, and that's what he did.

Next he went on to Naruto, who also had a sword wound. Saotome did the best he could and moved on to Ayane, who only had head trauma again. After he felt he did all he knew how for the others, he set them all down and started to make a camp without even taking time to bandage his ribs or even say a word to Sakura, who still cradled Sasuke's head in her lap. It took him a little while, but he got the wood and made a rough form of shelter, which he put his sleeping friends under and finally rested in the heat of the small blaze.

"I couldn't do anything to help them." Sakura half mumbled to herself as she stared at the fire "There was nothing I could do to help. Even Ayane chan was able to do something…but I could do nothing."

"Well, there's no use worrying about it now. It's all over with." Saotome said with a wince as he turned slightly on one of his bad ribs "Orochimaru got what he wanted. What did he do to Sasuke san anyways."

"He bit his neck and a strange mark appeared on him, but it caused him pain and he passed out." Sakura said quietly "Are you hurt too?"

"Just a couple of ribs. No big deal. Don't want to waste the bandages anyway." Saotome said idly. He laid down facing the stars. Suddenly he heard a rustling in the trees. He got up as quick as he could and held out a kunai readily.

Temari stumbled through the foliage and into the clearing with wide eyes. "Oh my god what happened to you guys!" She exclaimed as she got closer

"We found these guys being attacked by a snake guy named Orochimaru, and we tried to help, but he massacred us." Saotome said as he lowered his kunai, glad to see a friendly face, especially Temari's "What the hell are you doing here?"

"My team already finished two days ago, but we waited for you to make sure you got out okay. When you didn't show, I went out on my own to look for you guys and help you out." She said as she walked up and hugged Saotome securely to make sure he was real and not some nightmare about to go wrong. She recoiled when he winced at her embrace "Oh my god, you're hurt!"

"Just three ribs my dear. Nothing serious." Saotome said with a genuine smile as he ran a hand gently over the side of her face. He was so glad to see her at that moment. Had it been anyone else he might have just attacked them anyway, but for her, he would move mountains.

"There, you need to rest." She said, laying him down and getting out her set of bandages as she removed his shirt with her free hand. "How did one guy take all of you down? Where's Junichi san?"

"He's one of the legendary three sannin of Kohona I suppose." Saotome said as she wrapped his ribs gently "Junichi took the worst of it though. I wrapped em' up as best I could, but I'm no medical specialist, even with these things, and Sakura chan's still in shock from seeing people get impaled in front of her."

"Don't worry. I'll take care of everything." Temari said as she laid Saotome against a tree and went to go get help. She didn't take ten steps before the ground in front of her suddenly exploded, causing her to jump back and pull her fan out.

Out of the dust appeared three people with the sound emblem on their forehead protectors. One was wrapped up like a mummy, the other was a female and the other had holes in his hands.

"Just where do you think you're going girlie?" The guy with the holes said tauntingly "Orochimaru sama came through here and now it's our job to clean up the remaining vermin."

"Why don't you freaks just try it." Temari said confidently as she pulled out her fan "I'll take all three of you down without breaking a sweat."

"Why don't you start out with me first girlie" The male said stepping forward with a confident swagger.

Temari leapt into action, her fan open and blowing gusts of wind at her opponent. The boy stood there and held out his hand, suddenly Temari flew through the air and hit a tree.

"My sound waves disrupted the air currents and the sound is what hit you." The boy said with a smirk. "Your wind attacks are nothing to me."

The boy held out his hand again, grinning as Temari shut her eyes, waiting for her death to come. Then for no reason the attack didn't come, she was about to open her eyes when she heard a loud crash. When she opened her eyes, a panting Saotome was standing in front of her with the fire on his right fist dying away.

"Saotome kun! You shouldn't be up!" Temari exclaimed, running over to him hurriedly "You should be resting! I can take care of these guys."

"Temari, against people who can disrupt air, you don't stand a chance." Saotome said as gently as possible. "You go and stay with the others. I'll take care of everything here."

Temari tried to argue but Saotome suddenly pressed his lips to hers, startling her a bit. As he broke the kiss, he looked into her tearing eyes. He smiled at her beautiful face and gently put a stray lock of her hair behind her ear, letting her hold her face in his hand as he did so. Then she took a step back and they nodded to each other, each going about their new task.

"I don't know who you are, but you've made me mad now." The boy said as he climbed out of the crater he had been thrown in to. "You two, get over here. We're going to tear this guy apart."

"I don't think you'll be tearing anything apart." Saotome said with a grin, his voice suddenly deeper "In fact, I think I'll be the one doing the tearing."

Saotome saw the attack coming. In an instant he dodged to the side enough to avoid the sound waves and dove in to the group, his fist glowing blue with chakra.

"_BURNING FIST" He_ shouted as he drove his fist into the mummy guy's chest, sending him flying. The attack had been quick enough to throw them off guard a first time, but now they had him. Before he could strike the next one, he felt the sound blast hit him in the back and he watched as he flew into a rock.

"You're nothing more than an ordinary genin!" The tall male said mockingly as he prepared to shoot again, but stopped when he looked at his prey.

Saotome had gotten up and was grinning evilly. He was now standing on the balls of his feet, his heels in the air. He held his fingers out like he was flexing claws. His hair was suddenly longer and his teeth were now sharp. He stood hunched over in a very animal like way before charging them, his speed twice what it was before.

This time they were ready for him, and they all got out of his way. The mummy guy was itching to get revenge though, and he was first to make the assault, and he leapt in to punch Saotome in the face. His eyes widened in shock when he found that Saotome had latched on to his wrist, his jaws growing into a dog-like mouth, complete with teeth. Black fur had started to grow all over his body and his ears were pointed. His toes and fingers had grown long claws on the ends of them. With a quick twist, he took the boy's hand off. The mummy yelled in pain for a second, but didn't have time to do anything else as the claws of Saotome suddenly began to dig into him over and over again, almost completely ripping the front of his body open.

Everybody who was able to witness the attack recoiled in disgust, especially Temari, who was in shock at seeing her Saotome turn into a killing monster like this. The remaining sound team members tried to hide, but to no avail, Saotome ripped them apart like rags, one by one. The second to fall had been the girl, she put up little fight as Saotome's teeth tore into her neck. The last had been the boy who attacked Temari. It took a long time for him to die. Saotome drew it out painfully. He made deep claw marks across his chest, then his back, then ripped his arm off, then his leg, then gashed his face, then finally bit his neck, letting the blood flow over his jaws.

Temari was shaking from seeing this. It was the most horrible thing she had ever seen. Not only because it was the boy she cared for, but because he had killed them like a demon. Then his howl over the corpses sent shivers up her spine. As the beast walked over to her she tried to crawl away, but her legs simply didn't work. The lumbering animal in front of her still had blood in its fur. What once was Saotome's shirt had been torn in the metamorphosis.

"S-stop! D-don't c-come near me!" She screamed at the demon as it slowly neared her.

As soon as it heard her voice, it lowered its ears and whined slightly, the way a scolded dog might. Slowly it reached out to touch her. She stared as the reaching hand in front of her slowly changed back into the hand of a human. Saotome was on his knees in front of her, his hand reaching to stroke her face gently.

"That's the test he wanted all along." Saotome said as he suddenly withdrew his hands and stared at them "To protect those I care for with fierce and undying loyalty…the trait of the demon wolf…" Saotome suddenly cried into his hands. He wasn't ashamed either. Slowly he felt Temari's arms wrap around him, her warmth transferring to him and for once, he felt safe. Nothing could ever happen to him as long as he had her.

"It's allright…" She said to him gently and quietly "It's all over now…you saved us all…"

"I saw it…I killed them…I couldn't help it…" He sobbed into her shoulder "Never be afraid of me Temari…Never fear me…I could never hurt you…never fear me or the demon."

"I won't Saotome" Temari said soothingly "I will never be afraid as long as you are protecting me."

As the moon rose in the night, the held each other, seeking safety in each other's embrace. On that night, they neither slept nor ate. They gained strength from each other's touch, and in turn protected each other with the strength they gained. For Saotome, he had a place, even though he was now a demon like Junichi. For Temari, she would always be protected from any threat. And thus, they shared each other's warmth deep in the forest of death with the full moon shining brightly overhead.

The next morning, they decided it was time to move on. Saotome, shirtless and shoeless, took Naruto, Ayane, and Junichi's bodies and had to strap them to his back. Temari protested, saying he was still injured, but he merely smiled and showed her that his ribs had healed perfectly. Sakura still held Sasuke's body, and wouldn't part with it. They headed off with Temari in the lead, having all the scrolls they needed to pass.

It took an entire day to get to the tower, and on the last day of the exam, they finally made it, just in the nick of time. Gaara quickly got Naruto and Junichi's body off of a struggling Saotome and together, they all went inside and laid them down, preparing to open the scrolls. Upon doing so, several strange people appeared to tell them they had passed and talked about some sort of old chuunin saying.

Junichi was placed in the dark, letting his vampiric healing powers take full effect, and in a matter of minutes he was up again. Ayane literally jumped up when they dumped a bucket of cold water on her. Naruto was taken to a small nearby hospital set up specifically for this exam. He would be ok in a couple of days. In the mean time, everybody returned to their homes to heal for the month before the final exam.

Junichi sat in the woods behind his house, thinking long and hard about what he was going to do. Through Eva, he had learned that with certain rituals, he could summon demonic powers and become even stronger. The only catch was, that you have to give something equal to that which you gain.

For now though, he was carving a log away. The thought of even more power was tempting though…he even began thinking about making his own dojutsu. So much to do, and only a month in which to do it.

"Hey man, whatcha up to?" Saotome said from behind him. In the few days since the forest of death, nobody but Temari knew what had happened, and he was keeping it a secret. Sakura had had a small nervous breakdown and didn't remember a thing. Crazy. Junichi could tell that Saotome was different though, he just couldn't put his finger on it.

"I'm carving a mask for myself." Junichi said as he kept on working, not even bothering to look back at Saotome.

"Sounds fun man." Saotome said sarcastically "What are you gonna make it do? Shoot fire? Electrocute people?"

"I'm going to cover my face." Junichi said calmly. He smirked when he literally heard Saotome face fault.

"You mean to tell me that Junichi isn't going to supercharge a mask and do something normal for a change." Saotome said doubtfully.

"That's what I'm saying my friend." Junichi still wasn't even looking back at him. He grinned. Of course this wasn't going to be a regular mask, he just hadn't decided what kind of techniques he was going to implement yet.

"Anything else you working on that might be a tad more interesting?" Saotome asked hopefully. He had come to see what Junichi was cooking up and maybe even get ideas for himself.

"Lets see…" Junichi said idly as he pulled out a small notepad labeled 'things to do' "Demonic rituals…dojutsu…groceries… mask, in the process of completing…sharpen sword…talk to demons…do laundry…"

"I get the picture man." Saotome said boredly "Well, if you get to the good stuff, make sure and tell me so I can watch you do something cool."

"I will." Junichi said, even though he knew Saotome had walked off before he could reply. It was like a piece of mind thing.

Saotome whistled as he walked down Kohona's busy streets. He hadn't planned on training today. He had intended to spend the day with Temari, but she was training, and said he couldn't come. His only source of entertainment for today would have to be the antics of Rock Lee. He shivered.

Lee was working hard as ever when Saotome walked up. Saotome quickly put a henge on himself and changed into Sakura as he walked up. He knew Lee had the hots for Sakura and decided to mess with his head a bit. Junichi was such a bad person.

"What are you doing today Lee san?" He said, imitating Sakura perfectly as he walked up.

"Sakura chan!" Lee yelled as he immediately stopped his training but then blew it when he struck a pose "I WAS TRAINING SO THAT ONE DAY I MIGHT BE AS STRONG AS GAI SENSEI!"

"That's great Lee san." Saotome said sweetly "When are you going to teach me how to use the gates?"

"W-what was that Sakura chan?" Lee said incredulously only two people knew about his knowledge of the eight gates.

"I said, when are you going to teach me how to use the gates you fuzzy-browed freak!" Saotome yelled, using his voice but Sakura's body.

"OH MY GOD I MUST BE HAVING A NIGHTMARE!" Lee yelled as he stared at Saotome "SAOTOME SAN IN SAKURA CHAN'S BODY! AAAAHHHH!"

"Lee you idiot!" Saotome chuckled as he transformed back "Just because you don't know any ninjutsu doesn't mean you should be ignorant of it."

"FORGIVE ME SAOTOME SAN!" Lee cried as he fell to his knees with tears running down his face "FROM NOW ON I'LL WORK HARDER THAN EVER TO BECOME AS WISE AS YOU!"

"Lee, if you try to hug me I will knock your block off!" Saotome said threateningly as Lee took his outstretched arms and crossed them over his chest instead.

"Now seriously, when do I get to use the gates man?" Saotome said, getting back to the point.

"One cannot merely learn the power of gates whenever one wants!" Lee said to him "One must be ready for the responsibility required for such techniques!"

"Riiiight…" Saotome muttered. Stupid Lee. Saotome wondered if he could handle the responsibility of a demon. Of course he wondered if he could too. He could only really use the power when he needed to protect someone. Namely Temari.

"But, I can help you train today!" Lee yelled as he struck another nice guy pose "Today we shall add more weight and do speed training!"

"Ugh…" Saotome groaned. More weight. Lee already had upwards of eighty pounds on his wrists and ninety-five pounds on his legs. "Fine, give me some more weight and we'll train."

Lee grinned and ran off to get more weight while yelling something about the fire of youth. Saotome sat down on a stump and undid his weights, setting them off to the side. He had no clue how much weight Lee used, but he knew it was quite a bit. One time he had accidentally put on Lee's weights and practically fell over.

Saotome wondered idly how fast he had gotten since he had started using the weights. He pulled out a kunai and looked at it for a second. He was silently thinking about throwing a kunai and seeing if he could catch up to it. He quickly threw the knife and ran after it. He saw it in front of him and reached out with all his might, right before he and the kunai both ran into a tree.

"SAOTOME SAN! I HAVE THE EXTRA WEIGHT!" Lee yelled as he ran up to the area. He laughed when he saw Saotome step away from the tree.

"Oh yeah!" Saotome yelled at him "Why don't you try it if you think you're so high and mighty!"

Lee grinned for a second. He pulled out a kunai and threw it right at Saotome. Before he even had time to think, Lee grabbed the kunai out of the air inches from his face.

"You've never done that before, have you Lee?" Saotome asked calmly as he stared at the point of the kunai.

"NO I HAVEN'T SAOTOME SAN! BUT I WOULD NEVER PUT YOUR LIFE IN DANGER I WASN'T SURE I COULD GET YOU OUT OF!" Lee yelled proudly.

Saotome immediately began to activate his burning fist, to which Lee paled. It didn't matter who you were, burning fist hurt a lot. Lee had been the voluntary guinea pig when Saotome had been creating the technique, and now had a profound fear of it.

Saotome thought about it, and put on the extra weight. Then he resumed to chasing Lee down and using the burning fist on him. That day, Saotome found the perfect way to enhance his speed. Sure, it was bad for Lee, but it increased his speed too, and he didn't complain as much as he would have had it only been a merciless Lee beating.


	22. Chapter 22

The chuunin exam. The third stage of the chuunin screening process was finally about to commence. The stadium was filled to the maximum capacity and all of the genin awaited their respective fights eagerly.

Junichi stood at the designated genin waiting spot. It was basically a dugout ring going around the bottom of the stadium. He had all his gear and he was ready for anything. He paced slowly, waiting for the sickly looking man to call out the names of the first two competitors.

"I think we need to discuss an important matter Junichi san." Gaara said, suddenly appearing to the side of him.

"And what might this important matter be Gaara?" Junichi asked calmly, not fazed by Gaara's sudden appearance.

"I think you should know that the kazekage sama wants us to attack the leaf during this exam." Gaara said as if he weren't giving out information that could get him killed.

"Really now?" Junichi said with a grin "You have your orders now don't you. The only question is, are you going to carry them out."

"Upon much deliberation, Temari and I voted for Kankuro and we will be defecting from the sand to join the leaf." Gaara said, once again with a completely normal face.

"Well I'm glad you came to such a conclusion." Junichi said with a grin "The question is, what do we do about it."

"We can do nothing while the kazekage sama is here." Gaara said, "Should you tell the hokage, our lives would be in danger."

"Then I guess all we can do is prepare." Junichi said calmly, the grin fading from his face "I can sense this is going to be one hell of a fight."

Like that, the match between Sakura and Ino was over. Junichi had completely missed it, and didn't even know who won, nor did he care. He watched attentively as he waited for the next names. Nagama Saotome and Nara Shikimaru were up next.

Both guys walked into the arena, Saotome getting a good luck kiss from Temari first. They stood and faced each other. They were so much alike it was scary. The way that they both slumped when carrying themselves was uncanny.

"Well, I've been watching you for a while and I don't know your song so…" Saotome said as he handed his guitar to the nearby jounin "You take good care of that. Now. Hope you've got some tricks up your sleeve."

"This is so troublesome…" Shikimaru muttered as he stood readily. They both stared each other down for a second.

Saotome moved first, throwing one kunai at Shikimaru and then throwing a handful of shuriken at him randomly. Shikimaru dodged narrowly, trying not to move too much. Shikimaru then leapt back and got into his thinking position. Saotome looked around for a second before rushing in for a taijutsu fight. Shikimaru leapt into action, activating his shadow controlling technique, which Saotome was only barely able to get around do to the surprise.

For now, both boys stared each other down, each trying to formulate their own plan. Saotome was actually thinking about Temari, but it was all the same to him. He only barely noticed the wire that appeared at his feet. For a while he stared at it and then looked down the line and saw a shadow traveling along it. With all the speed he had, he cut the line and stopped the attack. Now he decided would be a good time to attack.

Saotome rushed in with one fist ready in a punch aimed straight at Shikimaru's head. The lazy ninja barely dodged and utilized Saotome's opening. Saotome soon found himself unable to move his body and looked down to see his shadow connected with his opponents.

They both stood there. Shikimaru had only done this to buy himself time. He really didn't know what to do after this one. Saotome sat there, whistling, knowing all along that his opponent was using up valuable chakra. He knew he could keep this up for a while, but his opponent could only last so long, and once he wore out, Shikimaru would feel the burning fist with full force.

In the mean time Saotome was kind of bored. That was, until all of the sudden, Shikimaru ran past him and headed for the other side of the stadium. Saotome, still being under the influence of the shadow, had no choice but to follow in the opposite direction. He started panicking when he noticed the wall was getting closer and closer but he kept running. With a loud thud, he slammed into the wall and fell over. Shikimaru was on the other side panting slightly.

When Shikimaru had jumped back and used his shadow technique, he had made the distance unequal. The fist fighting was just to soften him up and make sure he went down. It was almost a sure victory, but then Saotome got up.

Saotome stood, his nose bleeding "You're clever Shikimaru…little bastard." He said as he held his nose with two fingers "But I have much more stamina, and am a taijutsu specialist. I'll give you one chance to quit before I try out a new jutsu on you."

Shikimaru thought about it. He wasn't good at taijutsu or ninjutsu especially. His chakra was low, not out, but lower than he would like. And his opponent could withstand running into a wall at that speed. The outcome of this match did not favor Shikimaru at all.

"Allright." Shikimaru said, putting his hand in the air "I hereby forfeit. Judging from your stamina, I'd say you're still kicking, while that took a lot out of me."

"You made the right choice my friend." Saotome said with a warm smile as he came up and shook Shikimaru's hand and patted him on the back "We'll have to have a real fight some time, just you and me."

"I'd rather just play you in a game of shouji." Shikimaru said, "Fighting is way too troublesome."

They both walked off of the arena floor. As soon as Saotome got back to his little spot, Temari was already on him with some tissue, and she tried to clean the blood from his nose. Slightly gross. Shikimaru however, was hounded by his team for giving up too easily.

All right. Next two names. Hyuuga Neji and Junichi. Sweet. Junichi grinned as he calmly walked to the arena. His opponent was a taijutsu specialist, while he was a ninjutsu specialist with some kenjutsu thrown in to make a nice party mix. If he was going to survive this, he would have to pull out his best ninjutsu for this one…and he had that very ninjutsu picked out.

Neji stared at him with his deep white eyes for a while. Junichi looked to be an ordinary person but something about him made the hint that he was so much more. Upon turning on his byukagan, he saw not only Junichi's tenketsu, but also a woman in a red dress standing behind him.

"Sorry my dear, but I don't think you should be doing that." She said to him with her heavy accent and smiled, showing her fangs. Neji deactivated his byukagan swiftly due to the shock at seeing a person with pointy teeth.

"If my guess is correct, you must have spoken with Eva." Junichi said with a catlike grin "Don't worry, her power is almost useless in this infernal sunlight. All I get is a little bit of speed and strength."

Neji rushed him quickly planning on hitting his tenketsu around his heart and thus, killing him. Suddenly, he was thrown back by some sort of force. Neji flew a good ten feet from that blow.

"How do you like my chakra blast? It was inspired by your jyuken you know." Junichi said with a sly grin "Don't worry, I didn't rip the technique off. My attack doesn't affect your tenketsu, but it does feel like getting hit by a load of bricks. Of course unless I were to pump most of my chakra into it, there's almost no chance that you'll sustain any serious damage from it."

Without saying anything, Neji rushed him again. This time when Junichi used his chakra blast, Neji did just as he hoped and dodged the attack. Neji ran up quickly to hit him with his jyuken. Junichi used his mammoth blade and just held it in front of him, repositioning it every now and then.

Kakashi and Kanoe stood in a shadier part of the stadium next to a few columns talking idly about this or that, neither actually paying attention to the fights below. It was at this point when Zabuza stepped out of the shadows next to them, his arms crossed over his chest as he watched Junichi intensely.

"What do you think you are doing here?" Kakashi said idly. Ever since he had seen that sword he knew Zabuza was alive, he just didn't know how. "You are a missing nin and I will have to report seeing you here as is my duty."

"Go ahead." Zabuza said calmly. "I'm here to see the boy fight. He has my sword after all…he fights like a demon."

"Zabuza, how were you brought back to life? How did you survive the encounter in the wave country?" Kanoe asked, once again calmly. Stupid jounin…

"I was sent to hell." Zabuza replied "And then I was pulled out of it by Satan himself. I was useful enough to warrant that gift, though Haku was not…"

"You know, considering that we all have a little history together, I could hold off on reporting you if you're only here to watch the kid." Kakashi said boredly. And so Zabuza watched the rest of the exam.

Junichi was slightly angry. His sword had been thrown out of his hands and was too far away to get now. He liked that sword. He had earned it. It was important to him. He decided to let out his most recent ninjutsu.

"_FOUNTAIN OF FLAMES"_ Junichi shouted as he completed the last seal. He looked at the sky and suddenly a pillar of flames shot out from his mouth going up into the sky and coming down in sporadic places all over the arena.

It took Neji all of his ability to dodge the fire around him, but he knew that Junichi couldn't keep it up for long and would soon tire out. But he couldn't take the risk of him not and decided to go in to attack. He ran in and with his palm trained right for his heart. He was almost in reach when he noticed Junichi's slightly outstretched palm and a chakra burst shot from it, sending Neji flying through the air again, and straight through fire.

Junichi let up the ninjutsu, clearly exhausted. It took a lot of chakra and concentration to pull it off and it took even more concentration to pull off a chakra burst at the same time. It was a very difficult thing to do. He walked over to Neji who was on the ground panting. Without hesitating, he just punched the crap out of him over and over again, splattering blood on the ground.

"How…could you beat me?" he panted incredulously "I'm…a genius…from the Hyuuga….clan…"  
"Because there's more to it than just birth." Junichi said with a smirk "All of my power is wrought of with my own two hands, like sculpting art with pure steel and no tools. All my life, I have worked and now, I am what I am. If you can't see that, then you're just as bad as all of the Hyuugas. As bad as the Uchihas used to be as well. All birthright and no talent."

Then Neji passed out. Junichi was clearly the victor here. You wouldn't think Neji would have went down so quickly but with burns all over you and being slammed around like that, you might just not be feelin' to hot…err, well…you might not be feelin' to well either. Junichi calmly went back to his spot.

Next two names. Uzumaki Naruto and Inuzuka Kiba. This could be good. Junichi stopped paying attention. He didn't care about other fights if they didn't include him or his teammates, or possibly the sand trio. He idly went about his musings.

The next match was Gaara and Sasuke. Once again, Junichi didn't really care what happened. Gaara would almost definitely win this one. There was almost no chance Sasuke could win. It was kind of sad really. Junichi was bout to take a nap when suddenly a loud explosion went off.

Everybody started running before the genin knew what was happening. The first thing that Junichi saw was the Hokage and Orochimaru get to some building rooftop and start fighting. He was about to run after them when Kakashi appeared in front of him.

"Where do you think you're going?" Kakashi asked as if he didn't know "If you're thinking about fighting Orochimaru or the sound nin, you're severely mistaken. You need to help your friends get out of this mess."

"But I can help! You need us!" Junichi yelled at him, angered by the current situation "Saotome, Naruto, Gaara, and myself all have demons. We could at least create a diversion with all of our combined powers."

"The answer is no. Take your friends and head off into the woods where it's safe. Kanoe and I will take care of everything." Kakashi said and began to walk off.

"Wait!" Junichi said suddenly, causing Kakashi to turn around and look at him boredly "Are you and Kanoe really going out?"

Kakashi would have answered, but another explosion rocked the city and he bounded off. Junichi went and rounded up everybody who could still walk.

"Allright, we have orders to go into the woods and hide." Junichi said with a bit of dismay.

"Man, that sucks!" Saotome exclaimed, "Giant snakes are overrunning the village and we have to hide in the freakin woods! That pisses me off!"

"We don't have a choice you idiot!" Temari yelled at him "You said it yourself. "Giant Snakes". Do you really think any of us could stand up against that?"

"Hey lady, I've got demons on my side, and so do Gaara, Junichi, and Naruto." Saotome replied, but backed down when Temari threatened to beat him.

"We should hide. We have little chance of getting out of this alive if we fight." Shikimaru said calmly.

"As much as I hate to admit it, I agree." Junichi said, "We don't stand a chance against Orochimaru and his minions."

The genin all agreed and begrudgingly went into the woods as fast as they could. They all ran for what seemed like hours. They ran until their muscles felt like jelly and their lungs felt like lead.

Kakashi and Kanoe were surrounded on all sides. They stood back to back facing all these foes at once. Kakashi was tired from using his sharingan and Kanoe had her own blood all over her fingers.

"I guess this is it." Kanoe said with a grin "I guess if we're gonna go, we should go out with a bang."

Suddenly a huge sword cut through the air in an arc around them, taking out three sound nin. The rest looked around worriedly, but weren't able to do anything as the mist rolled in and various fatal cuts were inflicted on their poor confused bodies.

"So, have you decided to stick around or are we next in line?" Kakashi asked calmly as the mist disappeared, revealing Zabuza standing amidst the bodies with his sword back in his hands.

"Well, now that I have my sword back, I think I'll help you little vermin out." Zabuza said evilly "It's only fair, seeing how neither of you could defeat me and let me live."

"Smug bastard." Kanoe remarked as they all leapt off to the next set of attackers. It was going to be a very long and tiring day.


	23. Chapter 23

The next day, all of the genin returned to a ruined and still smoking village. They silently walked though the rubble and corpses to find a small outfit of jounin who took them to everybody else.

"What do you think would have happened if we had stayed."? Saotome asked quietly, still in shock that his home was in pieces.

"I think we all would have died." Junichi said as he walked by the corpse of a dead jounin.

The day after they returned, a funeral was held for the third hokage of Kohonagakure village. It was a day of mourning for everybody. Junichi stared on at the casket for a long time. To him, death was something that only happened to the weak before. But for something to kill a hokage…it finally dawned on him the power that they were faced with fighting.

"I want an honest answer" Junichi said to Kakashi "Do we stand any chance of fighting the sound in our present state.

Kakashi shrugged and walked away. Junichi walked home in the rain, not caring that he was getting wet and could die of some sort of illness women seem to think will strike you if you get wet. He had never heard of any such things anyway. He didn't walk through his house to the woods either, he just went straight out there to train.

"Hey kid, I thought you might want this back." Zabuza said as he stepped out from behind a tree and handed Junichi the sword.

"Keep it, I'm getting a new one." Junichi said distractedly "What are you doing here, I thought you were on the run or something."

"I was, but they think I'm dead, and according to the records, I am, so I came here." Zabuza said calmly "You've gotten better since we last met. That fire thing you did at the chuunin exam was a high level jutsu."

"It was very hard to learn." Junichi said, "You know, if you want a place to stay, I got room here."

"You sure you want a criminal in your house kid?" Zabuza said jokingly "Yeah, I could use a place at the moment. I'll take you up on that offer."

"Good to hear it. Right now though, I have training to do. Do whatever you wish." Junichi said, going back to his flight training.

The next day they all had to go to some sort of formal ball for the results of the chuunin exam. It was supposed to be a joyous occasion because people were moving up in the ranks and symbolizing new life or something like that. Junichi didn't buy that at all. His current job was finding a suit for this formal event.

The ball was held in some sort of building that hadn't been destroyed. Everybody was just glad to get their minds off of work and missions. Everybody was dressed in their absolute best. Gai and Lee were in matching suits with green ties. All of the girls wore dresses. Even Kakashi was stuck in a suit that looked clean, though he still wore that mask of his. The problem was that everybody was waiting on Junichi and Saotome. They were definitely late.

Saotome was the first to walk in. When he did though, everybody nearly sucked the air out of the room. He was in a suit all right, but he had half of his shirt sticking out of his pants, his tie looked like he had burnt it slightly and it was tied strangely around his neck. His collar was half folded down and half doing some sort of Elvis routine. His cuffs were undone and he was wearing sandals. He looked like he had just now woken up and threw something together.

"Saotome is such an idiot." Kankuro said, standing next to his brother and sister, both of which were perfectly presentable.

"Shutup Kankuro!" Temari said as she hit Kankuro upside his head "He may be an idiot but…he's my idiot."

Everybody was still staring at Saotome's unkempt appearance when, as if the timing couldn't have been worse, Junichi walked in. He was possibly worse than Saotome but in a different way. He was wearing a bright red pimp suit. That's right, he had the shoulder pads, the hat with the feather, the cane, he even had a pinky ring on. One especially snobby upper class woman passed out when she saw him.

"Dude, what the hell are you wearing?" Saotome asked as he stood next to the reincarnation of Big Daddy.

"I'm wearing a suit you moron." Junichi said as he hit Saotome upside the head with his cane "I could very well ask you what you're wearing. Is that blood on your shirt?"

"Yeah… that might be mine. Can never be sure really." Saotome said as he looked down at the stain on his shirt. "At least I'm dressed in a regular suit."

"Barely." Junichi replied, "It took me forever to find this suit and then it was even harder getting the darned thing on. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to mingle."

Junichi walked off, his red shoes tapping loudly on the tile floor of the building. Temari walked up to Saotome and tried to straighten him up.

"What were you thinking when you put this thing on?" Temari asked him as she pulled a tag off of his pants.

"I was thinking about how good I looked in this thing, and I was also thinking about what you were gonna wear." He said with a sheepish grin.

"Why, because you wanted to look down my dress and stare at my boobs all evening?" She asked sarcastically as she pulled a piece of cardboard out of his collar and fixed it.

"For once, not completely." Saotome said as he zipped his fly "I just wanted to see how beautiful you looked in a formal dress instead of your regular clothes."

"You are so bad at lying Saotome kun." She said, as she had to actually untie his clip on tie because he had tried to straighten it and undid the tie.

"Well you know, at least I tried to give you an answer you wouldn't hit me for so you have to give me an A for effort." He said with a grin "Besides, this is just a henge."

With a poof, he was suddenly standing there in front of her in a perfectly arranged black suit. His hair was combed, his teeth were brushed, he smelled clean, and there were no stains on his clothes or anything. Even his shoes looked like they had been shined recently.

"Did you just make me do all that work for nothing?" Temari asked slightly annoyed by his choice of jokes.

"C'mon baby, lighten up. We're having fun tonight." He then bowed down and held out his hand "I would be honored if I could have this dance."

"Saotome kun, there isn't any music playing and besides, I don't know how to-" Temari was about to say when suddenly Saotome snapped his fingers and music began playing. It was appropriate music too, that is until they started breaking out in quick jazz music.

Saotome grabbed Temari and started dancing, being the first on the floor. She screamed at him at first, but then suddenly realized that he was in step with the music and doing an actual dance. So she just let him lead, slightly astonished that he knew how to do anything with that much coordination.

Junichi was the second on the floor. He calmly walked out with all his gear on. With a sudden movement, he threw his cane into the crowd, next he took his hat and threw it the other way, revealing his slicked back hair and letting some woman catch it, then with a flourish, he took off his coat to reveal his black collar shirt with a red tie and threw it into the crowd. He stopped for a second and held his hand in a thumbs up symbol and smiled, his teeth giving off the shining for the nice guy pose.

Gai and lee both did an identical nice guy pose from where they were standing. Saotome stopped as he dipped Temari back and did his own nice guy pose. Kakashi held his thumb up, but his teeth didn't shine because he wore the mask. Naruto tried his hardest to do the nice guy pose, but he looked like he was constipated because he was trying so hard. The last person to try was Gaara, who held his thumb out right, but his eyes got real wide when he smiled, freaking everybody out.

Junichi then held out his hand, waiting for some fine woman to attach themselves to it. He was slightly surprised when Tenten took his hand and together they danced next to Satome and Temari.

It was at this point that everybody joined in with dancing. Kakashi and Kanoe were dancing. Zabuza got a dance with Kurenai. Shikimaru danced with Ino once and then quit. Lee and Gai danced by themselves…Sakura tried to dance with Sasuke, but he would have none of it, and ended up dancing with Neji. Naruto was looking for somebody to dance with when he turned and saw Hinata, to which he ran over, grabbed her, and started attempting to dance. Chouji just kind of swerved around with a bag of chips in his hand. Even Gaara got a dance in here an there with whoever was willing to stand him, which was actually quite a few girls as it turned out.

Soon, everybody was gathered around Saotome and Temari. Saotome was dancing like he had been doing this his entire life. Temari on the other hand, had never even heard of swing dancing, but in Saotome's deft hands, she looked just as experienced. They continued on for several minutes until he ended by dipping Temari but keeping his back straight just as the song ended abruptly.

Everybody was clapping and laughing. After such a tragedy, this was just what everybody needed. There was much dancing and eating and laughing and healing for about an hour, until at last it was time to call forth who had become a chuunin.

"Um…they gave me this paper and it has the names of the new chuunin on it." Kakashi said uncomfortably into the microphone "And the next chuunin are…"

He trailed off as a drum roll started, not actually getting what it was for. He was waiting for it to stop when Gai walked up and told him it was for dramatic emphasis.

"Oh…so the next chuunin are…" Kakashi began again letting the drum roll thing go "Nara Shikimaru, Nagama Saotome, and Junichi…it doesn't have his last name here."

Everybody clapped as the three boys went up and received their vests. There was one more round of nice guy poses, then everybody went back to dancing until finally everybody just left. It was a truly perfect night to possibly the worst week ever.


	24. Chapter 24

I'M BACK AND BETTER THAN EVER!

Hey guys, I know you missed me in my short term of absence, but it seems there were some problems regarding my parents and my computer. You know how it is...At any rate, I plan to answer some, if not all of my reviews from when I was away.

NOTE YOU MIGHT JUST HAPPEN TO BE INTERESTED IN: From now on, my updates will be much further apart, due to some errors with the Sasori v Sakura fight, and another story I've begun writing. The point is, I might not update exactly when you want, which is pretty okay, seeing how most of you don't review when I want. Of course there are those glimmering exceptions that I look forward to so much...but enough of that.

Also know that I pretty much hated this entire chapter. I put it in because I thougth I needed it, but I think it just sucks...be gentle with the reviews please.

I dont' own Naruto...suddenly gets beaten to a pulp by Temari with her head shaved bald

* * *

Everybody was working extra hard to help restore Kohona to it's original state. Training was being forsaken for extra missions, except Junichi, who was taking extra missions and keeping up his training. He was a chuunin now, no doubt because of his expertise in ninjutsu. Saotome probably slipped by because he was able to stay calm and he noticed things easily. Shikimaru was just a freakin genius, so he naturally got in.

Junichi was out back training, and didn't even notice Naruto walk up. He wasn't doing flight training this time, but was apparently practicing a new jutsu, or an old one… nobody really knew.

"Hey Junichi! Guess what!" Naruto yelled, startling the crap out of Junichi who was, once again, shirtless.

"Naruto…" Junichi said with a sigh "Don't sneak up on me like that, I'm bound to get startled and accidentally kill you one day."

"Um…ok…" Naruto said, not really understanding what he was saying, but going back to his original point nonetheless "Me and Ero-sennin are going to talk to the next hokage and he's going to train me on the way!"

"That's great." Junichi said, knowing full well who ero-sennin was "Do you think you'll be able to beat me with you get back?"

"That's the great part!" Naruto said, literally bouncing up and down with excitement "Ero-sennin said you could come too! We're gonna get super training!"

"Wow…" said Junichi, not really knowing what to say. Training with the legendary Jiraiya wasn't something one took lightly "When do we leave?"

"We leave tomorrow! I'm gonna get so strong and finally be able to beat Sasuke once and for all!" Naruto yelled.

"Well don't count your chickens before they hatch." Junichi said with a small grin "I'll go ahead and finish up training before I go an pack. I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

Naruto had ran off, overly exited about his new training. Junichi wondered why he was being taken along though. He knew that Jiraiya accepted Naruto as a pupil partly because of the Kyuubi, and partly because of the fact that he was a screw up. Junichi was different though…wasn't he?

"Hey kid." Zabuza grunted as Junichi walked in through the back door "What were you doing today."

"Wondering why you still don't wear a shirt." Junichi said with a grin as he went to his room and packed. He and Zabuza had lived together for about a week. Both of them were on well enough terms, but both were often out. It's not like it mattered anyways. Zabuza was just there until he could get his own place.

The next morning, Junichi met up with Naruto and Jiraiya by the gate with a bag slung over his shoulder. Naruto was bouncing around and Jiraiya was trying to keep him under control, a task that was easier said than done.

"Yo." Junichi said calmly as he walked up "I'm here and I'm on time. Where are we going?"

"We'll be going to a nearby town to search for a woman named Tsunade." Jiraiya said, giving up on calming down Naruto "I expect we'll be gone for two weeks tops. You can thank me later."

"Why would I thank you?" Junichi asked calmly "You wouldn't have invited me if you didn't want me here. Why should I thank you for something you would have done had I wanted to come or not?"

"True." Jiraiya said with a grin "And I also bet you think there's some special reason you're here."

"Yep." Junichi said simply, as he stared at the tall white-haired man in front of him. Of all the people, Jiraiya certainly didn't act like a sennin. He was more like a big kid, which was pretty funny so Junichi didn't mind.

They walked on for a couple of days, going through forests and finally coming to a village. There seemed to be some sort of festival going on as the trio entered, making it harder to find a single person. All around them people were enjoying the festival atmosphere, playing games, and buying things like happy normal people without a care in the world.

"Allright! Now's the time to break out the old life savings!" Naruto yelled excitedly as he took out a frog wallet.

"Just one second Naruto. I should hang on to most of that money for you." Jiraiya said, taking Naruto's money and handing him back thirty dollars. "Spending money is one of the three sins which shinobi must never commit after all."

"Three sins?" Naruto asked questioningly "What are the other two sins and why do you think that allows you to hold my money?"

"The three sins are spending money, chasing women, and drinking. Shinobi must never commit these sins. I can hold your money because I have more self-control than you do. Now Junichi, hand me your money too so I can watch it for you." Jiraiya said informatively.

"I didn't bring any money." Junichi said with a grin and a shrug "I didn't think I would need it considering this IS a mission we're on, not a vacation."

"Ah…very well then. Naruto, you should be more like Junichi, always down to business." Jiraiya said as he wandered off with Naruto's wallet, knowing Junichi was onto him.

"Naruto, don't believe a word he says." Junichi said to Naruto as they began walking along "There are no three sins, he just tricked you into taking your money."

"WHAT!" Naruto yelled, enraged at being tricked "He tricked me! And you let him do it!"  
"I thought it would be a good lesson for you." Junichi said with a shrug "If you want, I'll compensate you."

"Wha-" Naruto started before a hundred bucks was pressed into his hand "I thought you said you didn't bring any money."

"I lied so Jiraiya wouldn't get any from me. I'm not compensating all your money because you failed the lesson and lost it of your own stupidity. Call that money pity cash." Junichi said with a grin.

"Don't call me stupid stupid!" Naruto yelled at him. If it was one thing Naruto hated, it was being looked down upon.

"Don't lose all your money to a lying old pervert. Now lets go and have some fun." Junichi said, walking off with a grin.

They walked around for several hours doing a few things here and there. Naruto signed himself and Junichi up to a ramen eating contest without telling Junichi. Naruto won first prize, with Junichi coming in second, to everybody's surprise. Junichi shrugged it off like it was nothing, but both boys knew demon hunger was a powerful thing, even if the demon did have more…exotic tastes.

Naruto walked in with some kalamari for Jiraiya with Junichi behind him to find the pervert sennin laying in a bed with two women hanging all over him. On a table was Naruto's empty wallet.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!" Naruto yelled at the sennin as he tried to throw a kalamari at him, only to find Jiraiya dodge the food and let it hit a man walking by.

"Hey, this is a designer coat!" The man yelled "In compensation pay 100000 yen and I'll let you guys walk away with your faces arranged properly."

"100000? I wouldn't have even payed 10 for a coat like that. It is quite possibly the most dysfunctional article of clothing I have ever seen in my years." Junichi said as he scratched the back of his head.

Then in a whirl of motion, the man lunged at them. Jiraiya jumped in the way however with something in his hand and sent the man spinning away rapidly straight into a cart of water balloons.

Jiraiya picked up a couple of balloons and beckoned for both boys to follow him. The walked until they reached the outskirts of town. He then stood in front of both boys and held a water balloon out in his hand.

"Allright, did the two of you see the attack I used before? Well we're going to learn that technique." Jiraiya said, sounding very serious and informative.

"WOW! This is gonna be so awesome!" Naruto yelled as he jumped into the air excitedly.

"It was an interesting technique. I hope you understand I'll have to modify it for my own tastes." Junichi said blandly, though on the inside he was just as excited as Naruto.

"First off, we have to make chakra spin in your hand. Watch." Jiraiya said. At that moment the water balloon got all deformed and exploded "If you concentrate your chakra into the water balloon, it'll spin the water around inside and explode."

Naruto and Junichi each took a water balloon and began training. At first, Junichi simply watched Naruto for a time. Then he walked off, preferring to train by himself. Naruto trained constantly, but his chakra was only going in one direction, making the balloon become flat. Junichi was having similar problems. When holding the ball in one hand, it would make the ball turn into an arc instead of deforming like it should.

Two days later, Naruto and Junichi walked into their small rented apartment and woke a sleeping Jiraiya. The sennin didn't seem very happy to be awoken, but he got up anyway. Naruto stepped forward first to show his instructor how much he had progressed. He held the balloon in his left hand and moved his right hand over it repeatedly, causing the balloon to deform and explode.

"I got the idea from a cat. He bounced the ball with his front paws over and over, and I thought, if I moved my hand over it repeatedly, it might achieve the same affect and make the water spin inside!" Naruto said triumphantly.

"Interesting theory. Junichi, I'm sure you wouldn't be here if you hadn't completed the task as well." Jiraiya said thoughtfully.

Junichi stood in front of him and cupped the ball in both hands. In a few second the ball exploded, dripping water all over the place.

"I had the same problem, except my chakra was causing the balloon to turn into an arch." Junichi explained simply "When I put both hand on it and concentrated chakra evenly through both however, the balloon achieved the same affect as you got."

"Good, both of you. You did better than I expected, but the next step is the hard part." Jiraiya said, getting up slowly and handing them both a rubber ball. "This time, you need to do the same thing, except that it's at least a hundred times harder than the water balloon."

Naruto quickly put his hands on the ball and tried. It deformed slightly but resumed its normal shape almost immediately. Both boys looked at Jiraiya and went off to train. Both boys separated almost immediately and didn't see each other at all while training.

The next day, Naruto managed to put a hole in the balloon and deflate it. Jiraiya had happened to be watching and congratulated him accordingly.

"You've come a long way from when you started." Jiraiya said as he drew a small mark on Naruto's hand. "By the way, have you seen Junichi?"

"No I haven't. I thought he would have reported in because he finished already." Naruto said incredulously.

Jiraiya wondered off while Naruto continued to train. Three days later, this was proving to be the hardest training Naruto had ever done. He found that the more chakra he put in, the more his hands felt like they were on fire. He thought back to the time when Iruka had told him about leaf training. With newfound enthusiasm, Naruto pushed all his chakra into the ball suddenly, causing it to explode and send him flying right at Jiraiya's feet with burns on his hand.

Junichi sat a couple of miles away in the same state. He lay against a tree with burns on both hands. They had both discovered the secret but Junichi was going to take it a step further. He knew that individually, each step was useless. He would have to combine them to make an attack. But, true to his word, Junichi already had the alterations in mind. He got up slowly, trying not to use his hands to pick himself up and trained for the next week .

Jiraiya and Naruto had already met up with Tsunade and her assistant Shizune, already gave her the offer, and had just found out that Orochimaru was about, without any word from Junichi. Everybody was frantic, trying to find Tsunade before she could heal the snake sennin's arms for him. Tsunade had a good heart, but couldn't handle loss very well apparently. Tsunade took the opportunity to try and kill Orochimaru, but he got away, and the battle escalated on the outskirts of town.

Junichi stood on a ledge looking down at his friends and their current state. Tsunade was heavily injured, Jiraiya was disoriented, Shizune was trying to do something, Naruto was standing alone against the guy with the cards from the chuunin exam. It was not a good situation. When he saw that Naruto needed help, Junichi jumped down, letting the energy gather in his hands as he landed behind Kabuto. The traitorous shinobi turned around just when Junichi's hands flew open and a beam of energy flew from them, sending Kabuto spinning away madly.

"Junichi! When the hell did you plan on showing up!" Naruto yelled, shocked to find Junichi fall on the ground in front of him, clearly drained.

Junichi crawled over to Tsunade and Naruto with his hands bleeding badly. He ignored Naruto trying to help him and kneeled in front of Tsunade in a strange manner.

"Tsunade…" He panted out, not noticing her trembling and staring at his bleeding hands "I am Junichi…chuunin of Kohona…at your service…"

"What are you doing! Why are your hands like that!" Naruto yelled at him, knowing Tsunade was afraid of blood.

"Training…" Junichi said with a grin as he slowly stood up and faced his opponent "Does anybody have any bandages on them?"

Shizune slowly walked over to him, and looked at his hands. They looked like they had been burned and partially crushed. Blood was seeping out through several holes and the skin that wasn't bleeding was burnt. She tried to cover them the best she could trying to stop Tsunade from trembling. Junichi looked down at her, and then at his hands for a second.

"You're afraid of blood?" He asked slowly, starting to realize why she wasn't speaking. Slowly he bent down to her at eye level. He could tell she was scared. It was part of the predator in him that knew such things. In a flash of motion he took out a kunai and gashed his arm with it. Shizune immediately tried to pull him away but he held firm, holding his arm out to her slowly.

"This is the most precious substance in the world." Junichi said slowly. He was way too much vampire to let somebody afraid of blood go uncured "This is the nectar of life. This is what people shed when they die for a just cause."

Tsunade closed her eyes, her memories of her dead brother and boyfriend coming back freshly, cutting her deep and causing tears to well up in her eyes.

"No!" he yelled suddenly, his voice becoming very stern "Don't shut this out! This is the sign of greatness, this is what gives us honor. Any person who is willing to sacrifice his life for a cause will fight until there is not a drop of this left in his body! We spill blood because of our love of our people and our families! If we fear this, then we fear loss, and if we fear loss, we can never truly gain anything in return!"

Tsunade clenched her eyes closed, still trying her best to block him out. If she saw the blood, she saw her dying loved ones, if she saw them, she felt like dying. She didn't want to remember them. She wanted to forget that they ever existed, letting the blood and the tears go away with them. She heard a noise in front of her and opened her eyes to see the white haired boy walking slowly towards Orochimaru with a kunai in his hand.

"What do you think you're doing!" Naruto yelled at him "We have to attack him together!"

Junichi walked on, straight forward as Orochimaru's snakelike tongue suddenly shot out at him. He dodged to the right and was about plunge the Kunai straight into the man when he felt something pierce his stomach again. It was that demonic tongue that had gone straight through him, now letting a sword out of it's mouth, which Orochimaru used to slash Junichi across the chest in the exact same way he did before, kicking Junichi straight back to his allies.

To everyone's surprise he got up again, his face perfectly serene as he walked at him again. This time Orochimaru made long gashes across his arms and kicked him again, this time right in front of Tsunade. Junichi stood up again, letting blood drip everywhere.

"Foolish boy!" Orochimaru spat as he cut his legs this time "You stand no chance against me, why don't you just give up!"

"I…will never give up you son of a bitch…" Junichi said as he crawled back to Orochimaru, getting stabbed in each hand and his cheeks getting gashed. He was once again kicked back.

"I will never…give up…because I can't…die…" Junichi said slowly as he summoned the last of his strength and stood up as best as his torn body would allow. "As long as…I still have blood…I can never die."

"Stop it! You're going to kill yourself!" Tsunade yelled at him, tears running freely down her face as she saw a boy tear himself apart in front of her.

"That's just it…I can't stop…" he said, turning around to her "If we forsake blood…then we forsake everything we believe in…I don't know who you lost…but being afraid of blood… is being afraid…of them…don't fear that…which you love…"

"I've had enough of this boy!" Orochimaru yelled as his neck extended and bit Junichi right on the neck.

"No!" Tsunade screamed, reaching out for Junichi's body. Naruto ran forward, but was slashed across the chest and stomach, causing him to collapse. Junichi's body was tossed into the air and let to hit the ground with a loud thud.

Junichi didn't get up this time. He didn't move, he didn't talk, he barely breathed. Slowly Tsunade crawled over to him.

"Why are you doing this? Why are you trying to help me?" She asked, letting her tears fall upon his bloody body.

"Because…I cannot…save them…not…strong enough…yet…" He panted, coughing up blood as he did so "You…can…help them…I can….only…help you…"

"But why would you do all this! How is this going to help me! Who the hell are you !" Tsunade cried angrily at him, her tears washing away his face.

"I…Junichi…you…Tsunade…we…shinobi…blood is…our…way of…life…without it…we…become…nothing…" Junichi said slowly as he passed out.

Tsunade cried her last tears before suddenly standing up. She quickly wiped her eyes and stared at Orochimaru with hatred in her eyes. She looked down at the boy who believed in blood and shed his own without thought of consequence. In him she saw the strength of her loved ones she had known. They had died in blood. But this boy said it was because of that, that they were great. Because of their blood, they became more than ordinary humans. They had lived and died like shinobi.

Junichi woke up on a raised platform in the moonlight, totally unharmed. His vampiric demons had taken hold of his body and healed him. He would live again. He vividly remembered the crying woman named Tsunade that had been afraid of blood. His only hope was that she now could look at blood in a different perspective, and rise up to take the title of hokage, which his people needed dearly.

"You're finally awake." A voice said to the side of him. He turned to find Tsunade standing there, watching him intently "Naruto told me about your vampire demon and also told me how to heal you."

"What happened? Where did Orochimaru go?" Junichi said quickly, hoping he wasn't still in danger.

"We defeated him, thanks to you." Tsunade said calmly, still staring at him "You helped me overcome my fear with your strength."

"I did nothing." Junichi said suddenly as he got up and walked past her "You were the one with the mental battle."

"Thank you." She said, suddenly catching him and kissing his forehead and then embracing him "Thank you for saving me from myself."

"You shouldn't thank me." He said as she pulled away from him "It is my duty as a shinobi to help out my comrades, be they a sennin or a gennin. I only did what needed to be done, nothing more and nothing less."

With that he walked off into the apartment, greeted by cheers from everyone. Tsunade sat on the balcony and gazed up at the moon. What an interesting kid he was, she thought. With his strength, he very well might just be immortal for all she knew.

"Hey, Junichi san…" Naruto said as he sat on a stump behind Junichi's house the day they got back "What was that technique you used to take down Kabuto?"

"It was the same technique you use really." Junichi said with a shrug. Everything had been taken care of and now he was back to training "I did all the same steps until the third step, which I found out on my own. Once I completed the regular rasengan, I took the ball of chakra and compressed it greatly, which explains why my hands looked like they were crushed. It took me a while to figure out how to do it, and even longer to release it. I had to make up a whole new technique to do that. I coated my hands with chakra in the instant that the compressed chakra blew and made a shield, forcing it into a one-direction beam. It's really two techniques in one."

"Wow…I would have never thought to do something like that. You really are a ninjutsu genius. I just need help with my demon chakra training and I'll be able to beat you though." Naruto said with a grin.

"You do have the more powerful demon, he just chooses his battles carefully." Junichi said as he leaned against a tree "My demon can only emerge at night or in a dark place. In the night, I could totally own you, Kyuubi demon or not."

"Oh yeah, well it's getting dark right now, why don't we have ourselves a little match to prove who's demon is stronger!" Naruto yelled and pointed his finger at him.

"You would lose." Junichi said simply "I control most aspects of my demon while yours needs a serious situation to come out. I would have to be out for blood to get him to show, unless of course you talked to him and he agreed to it."

"You know what? I don't need a demon to fight you! I'll take you on anyway!" Naruto bellowed at him as he ran forward angrily.

Junichi grinned as he jumped right on top of Naruto's head and from there vaulted himself into the air with chakra on his feet holding him up. Naruto turned around with wide eyes. He quickly jumped up at Junichi to punch the living crap out of him. Junichi dove straight down and landed on his hands just as Naruto was at the position he would have been in. He pushed off with his hands and kept his feet straight, sending him straight into Naruto's stomach. Naruto was caught off guard for a second but that second was all Junichi needed. Junichi flipped over as they started to descend, his feet planted on Naruto's chest as they both slammed into the ground, Junichi being unharmed.

"What the hell was that?" Naruto coughed as he stood up slowly from his imprint in the ground "You call that a hit? I'll murder the crap out of you if you keep pulling stunts like that!"

"Never attack me openly like that. Your only chance is to sneak up on me and catch me off guard." Junichi said with a grin. He knew Naruto was hurt more than he let on, unless the Kyuubi HAD entered the fight.

Naruto suddenly created about fifteen clones that surrounded Junichi before diving in to attack him. Junichi jumped into the air, starting a chain of hand seals as he did so. He came down right in the middle of them again, pressing both of his hands down on the ground.

"_EARTH EXPLOSION"_ He yelled as the ground around him exploded in flames from underground, causing all the clones to poof away. As the flames died down, the real Naruto dive in at Junichi with a kunai in hand. Junichi did a few more quick seals and activated his favorite electric attack.

"_ELECTRIC CLAW"_ He yelled as he grabbed Naruto's leg tightly, not wanting to kill him or anything. To his astonishment, the body suddenly exploded on him, sending him flying into a tree, his hand smoking.

Junichi had no sooner gotten up when he was caught in the Naruto rendan. He couldn't really hear anything but he knew Naruto was saying each syllable of his last name as he was battered into the ground.

"Take some of that Mr. Demon guy!" Naruto yelled at him smugly from the edge of the crater he had created with Junichi's body.

Junichi slowly stood up in the crater, his body starting to heal itself slowly in the darker evening they were experiencing. He couldn't summon Eva yet, he just had to wait until it got really dark, or he won.

Zabuza watched eagerly from a perch on a tree not far away. This boy Junichi intrigued him to no end. He had been defeated by something more than human, but this boy fought like a demon. In his eyes burned something strange, something that wasn't human. It was as if the demons were slowly becoming him. It was certainly something to be wary of. In the mean time, he would watch as the two demon boys fought. He would learn of their demonic powers, and prepare himself should the time come. He didn't trust demons one bit, but who could blame him given his past experiences. All he did now was to watch the fight with utmost amusement.

Saotome and Temari were taking an evening off from training and going on a date. The plan had been to go to a nice restaurant, but both of them were unreasonably poor, so they settled for sitting on a hill overlooking the sunset while Saotome played his guitar for her.

"Something isn't right." Saotome said suddenly as he stopped playing his guitar and looked out at the horizon "Something big is about to happen."

"You know what! I'm tryin my best to have a good time! Just because we're too poor to afford the nice restaurant doesn't mean we can't still have a nice evening! And I'm telling you right now mister, something big will most certainly NOT happen!" Temari yelled at him.

"Geez woman, I wasn't talking about that!" Saotome said seriously "For once I'm not talking about sex and you jump to conclusions and think me of nothing more than a stupid lecherous poor person!"

"That's because I'm normally right! And don't call me 'Woman', it's degrading!" Temari yelled at him, completely forgetting the reason they were yelling.

"It's what you are!" Saotome said assertively "Would you rather have me call you mister and draw a beard on you while you're sleeping."

So Temari started hitting him over the head with his own guitar, as is to be expected. The whole evening continued on for several minutes, ending with Saotome severely bruised up and slightly dazed, but with his head in Temari's lap as she stroked his hair gently.

"Temari, I gotta say, you have never looked so beautiful before when I was one hundred percent conscious." Saotome said as he looked up at her, slurring his words badly.

"I'll let that one go because I beat the crap out of you and I can't expect you to make sense for quite some time." Temari said with a sigh "But what did you mean when you said that something wasn't right."

"Oh that?" Saotome asked stupidly "Well, I thought it had somethin' to do with music…or sound…and uhhh…a guy…well, I've totally forgotten now due to a slight concussion. Now I can't sleep for at least twenty four hours and it's your responsibility to keep me up considering you beat me up."

"Saotome…" Temari said as she breathed deeply, trying to control the fist of doom that was perched ominously above his head. "I'm going to try and ignore all of your little comments and keep you up anyway without sex or removing articles of clothing just to be safe and because I wouldn't want to leave you here alone."

Saotome smiled. It was good enough for him. They both stared deeply into each other's eyes for a long time, Saotome only staring through one eye because the other one had swollen up quite a bit, but the sight he WAS able to see was a good one. Seriously, they must have the weirdest relationship ever.

At that exact moment, Sasuke was offered to go to the sound and join Orochimaru. He had fought the odd group of sound shinobi and now was seriously contemplating going with them to be as powerful as them. He wanted power. Needed power. It was like a thirst that could never be satiated. He returned to his luxurious manor and quietly contemplated his choices.

Naruto and Junichi stood across from each other panting. It was dark now and Junichi was ready to turn the level of this fight up. Slowly his eyes began to change and his teeth got longer. Naruto saw the change and tried to summon Kyuubi.

"_Not this time kit." _The demon fox said inside his mind _"You still have to prove yourself to be strong enough for my power."_

"Stupid fox…" Naruto muttered under his breath as he saw Junichi charge at him head on, something that was very strange for him.

Junichi ran up with an outstretched fist. As soon as he got within range, his body turned into mist and spread all over the place. Naruto looked around in confusion, but was unable to detect the mist gathering behind him into Junichi, who kicked him in the back.

"Do you still want to test demons Uzumaki?" Junichi asked with his strange accent, his leg still raised as he balanced there with a smile "I don't think you have what it takes to beat me."

Naruto yelled his battle cry and threw as many kunai and shuriken at him as he could. Junichi dodged them all while still standing there, playfully dancing around them. It was nothing more than a game to him. In a flash, he had a knife at Naruto's throat.

"You're much too slow to fight me." He crowed gleefully at his opponent "Without the Kyuubi demon, you stand no chance. You can either try to call him forth, or give up."

"I'll never give up no matter what!" Naruto yelled at him as he stepped back "That's my ninja way and I'm sticking to it."

Junichi didn't quite see what was happening at first, or hear what was going on, even with his enhanced senses. All he knew was that standing in front of him was Naruto, standing atop a huge toad. Junichi's already pale skin paled even more when he suddenly knew what was going to happen.

"Bunta, give me some oil!" Naruto yelled from atop the toad. Junichi swore he saw an evil glint in his eyes as the oil spewed out of the toad's mouth and Naruto gleefully set it afire.

Junichi stood there, watching the blaze come at him, his features a mixture of worry and determination. Then the fire washed over him. Everything around him was engulfed for about ten seconds and then it all died down like a bad dream, revealing him to be gone.

"Holy crap! I expected him to dodge that!" Naruto exclaimed from atop the toad "He was supposed to dodge! Didn't you think he would dodge!"

"Well kid, when you use that technique against your sparring buddy, you should kind of expect him to get hurt." Bunta said slowly to Naruto "I'm not detecting any life signs or chakra signals anywhere…I think he's…"

"PISSED OFF AT YOU FOR SHOOTING THAT MUCH FIRE AT ME!" Junichi yelled from behind Naruto. He was floating in the air, his chakra now red and his palm was outstretched.

"Junichi! You're alive!" Naruto yelled "But I thought Bunta didn't pick up any life signs."

"Vampires are dead Uzumaki…" Junichi said evilly "I barely managed to get out of the way just in time. You, on the other hand, won't be so lucky."

Junichi's hand started to glow red and chakra crackled all around him. Naruto's eyes went wide as he suddenly jumped off of Bunta and tried to run for cover. Junichi laughed evilly as he let out the largest chakra burst he had ever done. It destroyed Gamabunta and most of the already singed trees and left a huge crater in the surrounding ground.

Naruto lay on the ground, pain shooting through most of his body. He could see, but he could barely breathe or talk. He watched as Junichi stepped over him and looked down at him, his features now human.

"You burnt up my back yard and you paid the price for it." Junichi said with a grin. Naruto would have grinned, but he couldn't move real well. "Here, have some demon chakra. It'll heal you."

Naruto barely paid attention as Junichi's red hand was pressed to his chest. It was almost an instantaneous reaction. His wounds began healing before he even knew what was going on. Vampiric healing powers were nothing to scoff at apparently. He got up and stared at his hands and his torn up clothes.

"Dude…we should put limits on it when we fight next time." Naruto said as he looked from his healed body to Junichi.

"Don't worry my friend, we've both learned our lesson for that one. I guess I'll see you around." Junichi said as he lead Naruto back to the house and saw him off. With that, he finally collapsed on the couch, tired beyond belief at pretending to be completely well.

* * *

Shang: Yeah...Junichi got chuunin mostly because I wanted him to...that's all there is to it. It's not like he really needed it, I just wanted it to happen for some reason. The Zabuza helping them thing was kind of like his way of passage into the village. He was showing that he could be trusted enough to stay. Team whateverthehell, in my eyes, isn't all that strong. Had Temari not shown up, they would all have died in a matter of minutes, given torture time. Lee could crush Saotome in a New York minute, but he wouldn't if he thought it was good training. Ibiki asked Junichi to exlpain because he knew that Junichi understood it. He didn't do it right because he knew what was going on from the beginning. So you know, I am VERY Hellsing inspired, but all vampire abilities and techniques are mostly what I got straight from Bram Stoker, which I don't own. I only made minor adjustments. Don't know why team seven knows Lee...just blame radiation like I do. I have to throw some romance in every once in a while to hook in the other readers who can't stand mindless killing. I hope this answers alot of your questions and comments. I really hope you haven't gotten TOO annoyed with me to stop reading or anything...

Yondaime: Wow, I didn't think anybody really liked this story. I figured good old Shang thought it was pretty good and was just being nice...I'll take that too but you...I know it's not four days or anything, but can I still have your children? I could always use a slave. I like to call them 'indentured servants' even though I know that term doesn't fit. I just like the sounds of it. I hope you keep reading and whatnot, and I hope to know whether or not you plan to send the child through the mail.

Allright peeps! Maybe if i get back on work schedule, I'll give back some chapter spoilers, and may even give you a sneek peek at my new story "Altered Perceptions" which I'm not nearly close enough to posting yet. Until then, keep on tranglin!


	25. Chapter 25

I mades me a big ol' mistake!

What I posted yesterday was actually what was supposed to be the twenty fifth chapter! The twenty fourh chapter encompassed both itself and the next one on accident, so you got more than I had planned. Sorry for any inconveniences.

I don't own Naruto. Same as last time, and the time after this one.

* * *

Saotome woke up in an unfamiliar location. He wasn't exactly sure where he was and after a few minutes, all he knew was he was in a building, and that Temari was next to him. Both of them had their clothes on, and nothing else was out of the ordinary. A very perplexing arrangement. Slowly he put a hand on Temari's shoulder, causing her eyelids to flutter open almost like a butterfly's wings and she smiled at him.

"Hey…" She said to him sleepily as she smiled up at him "Did you sleep well? Why do you look so confused?"

"I have no clue where I am…or why you're here…" He said, trying to figure the whole situation out "Not that I don't like you here! In fact it's the most pleasant thing I've ever woken up to, but still, its not something I'm really accustomed to…"

"You passed out while we were on our date and I realized that I had no clue where you lived, so I just brought you here." Temari replied lazily, yet for some reason not uncomfortably, which was very odd for her.

"You let me sleep next to you?" Saotome asked questioningly "No…this has to be a genjutsu somebody's pulling on me."

"No it isn't…I wanted to sleep next to you because your were unconscious and not thinking dirty thoughts and I didn't want my brothers to come in and see us on the couch or something." She explained comfortably, still not sitting up.

"Ok, I'm starting to put things together now…Man I wish I could have been awake for all of this." Saotome said as he put a hand to his head and slowly got up "I need coffee or something and I need it bad. My head still hurts from when you hit me."

Saotome made his way downstairs with Temari's help and sat down as she made him coffee. Together they both sat there and talked romantically to each other while drinking their coffee when, of course, Kankuro walked down in his underwear.

"So, doll boy doesn't sleep with his makeup on…interesting" Saotome said as he looked over at Temari's brother with a smile.

"Oh my god! Kankuro, go put on some clothes!" Temari yelled at him, even though she knew her brother wouldn't quite register her for a few seconds.

"AAAHH!" Kankuro screamed when he finally realized what was going on. Temari counted a four second delay time. He was getting quicker "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT BASTARD DOING HERE!"

"Having a decent cup of coffee. Temari, no offense sweetheart, isn't a very good cook, but she can make a mean cup of joe." Saotome said with a grin "So, you're a tighty-witeys kind of guy. Kind of had to expect that."

"TEMARI! WHAT THE HELL IS HE DOING IN OUR HOUSE? DID YOU KNOW HE WAS HERE WHEN YOU CAME IN LAST NIGHT?" Kankuro continued to rant.

"Be quiet Kankuro, she came in last night with him. He was unconscious and she didn't want us to mangle him." Gaara said calmly as he walked in. Everybody in the room, with the exception of Saotome of course, stiffened at his entrance.

"Well now, if it isn't the one person who needs a cup of coffee more than anybody else." Saotome said cheerily as Gaara walked in, knowing he wouldn't do anything that would hurt Temari's feelings.

"What's coffee?" Gaara asked, to everybody's surprise. Temari and Kankuro looked at him in shock.

"You mean to tell me you've gone all this time with no sleep and you've never had coffee!" Saotome asked incredulously.

"Yes. Usually I just go and take a walk or stare at the sky. Now what is coffee and why would I need it?" Gaara asked, obviously intrigued.

Temari stumbled about and quickly got him a cup of coffee. "Here, drink this, it'll make you feel more awake." She said as she handed him the cup.

Gaara looked at her cautiously at the steaming liquid and then at Saotome, who smiled at him and took a drink of his. Slowly he took a careful drink of the hot substance and his eyes widened.

"Wow…what's in this stuff?" Gaara asked as he quickly took another drink, clearly enjoying his new energy.

"Caffeine my friend…lots and lots of caffeine." Saotome said with a grin "Well, I had better get going, I'm supposed to go and report in with my team in about…well right now actually, so I'll see you people later."

Saotome got up and kissed Temari on the cheek as he left. He grinned at what was behind him, knowing Kankuro was still speechless and in his underwear and from now on Gaara would be very twitchy.

Junichi woke up rather normally, in contrast to Saotome. He woke himself up a little bit and went to take a shower. Junichi hated hygiene habits; he followed them, but didn't think they were very necessary. He got dressed and went into the kitchen where he poured himself a nice glass of sake.

"You shouldn't be drinking at your age." Zabuza said from the kitchen table, idly looking at a newspaper.

"You shouldn't be squatting in a person my age's house." Junichi said to him as he sat down across from the jounin at the table with his alcoholic beverage "And for your information I've been drinking since that mission were I nearly killed you."

"Interesting…I watched that fight with the Uzumaki boy last night. You are a skilled shinobi for one your age." Zabuza said distractedly, obviously making small talk.

"I didn't know you were watching." Junichi said as he finished the glass and poured himself another glass "It's not that spectacular when you're dealing in demons."

Junichi finished his drink and walked out the door, making sure he had all his weapons in tow. As he made it down to their usual meeting place he saw a slightly twitchy Saotome and a very happy Ayane heading there as well. Perfect.

"My oh my, why are you two so weird in the morning?" Ayane said as she looked at both boys.

"How the hell do you stay so chipper every morning evening and night?" Junichi asked her, slightly annoyed.

"Well, I wake up extra early every morning to eat a balanced breakfast and then I skip through the flowers. What do you two do?" She asked sweetly.

"Nothing special." Both boys said in unison as they walked on either side of her. As they walked though, they saw a bunch of genin gathered around; among them were Naruto and Sakura.

"Hey guys, what's going on?" Saotome asked as they walked up. "Why's everybody hangin around and why are you crying slightly.

"Sasuke took off in the middle of the night and we have to go and get him." A tired looking Shikimaru said. Apparently he was leading these people.

"All right chief, what's the plan?" Saotome asked as he and Junichi began quietly walking away without anybody noticing.

"We're going in. Sasuke has the sharingan on his side and if an enemy gets it, things could be bad." Junichi explained quietly "We're going to collect a select group of people and we're going in as support. We won't tell anybody because we're not supposed to be gone. Go and get Gaara and meet me at back here soon."

"Hey, everybody!" Saotome said as he busted into the sand trio's house "The Uchiha took off and we're going to go and get him back. Gaara we need you to come with us."

"Why should I help this Uchiha person? I don't even know him." Gaara said coldly as he was still drinking coffee.

"Hey man, I don't know him real well either, but it'll be so much better than anything else you're gonna do for a long time. We're deep in enemy territory with this one." Saotome said with a grin.

"Allright I'm in. Let me get my sand and we'll head off." Gaara said as he put his coffee down and went to get his gourd.

"I'm coming with you and I'm not taking no for an answer!" Temari said suddenly. She had seriousness plastered all over her face.

"No." Saotome said simply "I don't want you in any danger whatsoever. You should just stay here and be safe."

"I'm going no matter what you say." She said stubbornly "You can either keep an eye on me or let me go by myself."

"…Fine, but you're staying close to me the whole time unless I say it's ok. I'm not going to let you get hurt this time." Saotome said firmly, his face void of any humor.

"Allright, I'm ready, lets go." Gaara said as he came back and handed Temari her fan. He knew Temari was going with her boyfriend and he also knew how hardheaded she was.

Junichi sat and waited for everybody to get back. He was going to get Zabuza to go, but he had already left on some important get rid of all ties to the mist mission or something like that. He really didn't know who else to turn to. He didn't want to go to anybody too official since he wasn't supposed to be going himself…They'd just have to make due with Gaara.

Saotome ran up with Temari and Gaara following behind them. They all met and exchanged determined looks, especially Gaara, who always looked the same unless he was trying to imitate normal people.

"Hey, I thought you were supposed to get somebody else to come!" Saotome yelled at him as it finally dawned on him.

"There weren't many people who were willing to take the job. It looks like this is all we got…You sure you want to do this Temari? Saotome's probably gonna get himself massacred." Junichi said with that trademark grin of his. The grin that said 'good or bad, who cares as long as we fight'

"I think we'll manage." Temari said with a smile, casting a glance over at Saotome who returned the look. Neither of them had told anybody about the wolf demon.

"So our mission is to rescue that Sasuke person from a few sound shinobi." Gaara stated plainly "Sounds easy enough."

"Our mission is to aid our comrades. We start with whoever's fallen behind or in battle. Sasuke should be at the end of the chain. We'll just go down the list." Junichi said firmly, getting everybody's nods.

Like that, they were traveling through the woods at tremendous speeds. They each had their mission in mind and knew to follow it. The only clue in which direction to go however was watching where the team started off from. It wasn't long before they came to a tree with an arrow on it. Sitting directly under the arrow was Choji.

"Should we not do something for him." Gaara said, motioning to the unconscious boy.

"No. There's nothing we can do for him now. We have to keep moving to save those who are in battle currently." Junichi said as they pressed on.

They moved past Choji and kept the breakneck pace down. Something inside the demon boys told them that serious danger was ahead. It must have been a strange demon thing or something, for they soon passed up severely beaten Neji, but pressed forward as well. It wasn't long before they came to a large pit, from inside of which they heard crashing.

"Gaara, I'll assign you this one. Come back alive friend." Junichi said calmly. He watched Gaara nod slightly and head to the battle.

Heading on, they moved through the trees until they heard the melodies of a flute. At this point Junichi sent Saotome and Temari in, hoping he might be able to get a piece of more powerful enemies ahead. To him, this was all still the same game of fight and kill. It probably always would be…

Gaara walked slowly to where he heard noises, checking to see where the enemy was. He finally found some footprints and followed them down a stream. After a while of walking he saw a boy with a dog running from another person, who didn't seem very happy at all. Gaara quickly put a wall of sand up to protect the dog boy.

"What is this!" the attacker yelled upon seeing the shield rise in front of him as if out of nowhere. Slowly he turned around and faced Subaku no Gaara, vessel of the demon shukaku.

"I hope you're prepared to die today." Gaara said as he held out a hand and moved it to the side. From the sand wall a giant fist emerged and punched the attacker to the ground.

The attacker got up with another head growing out of his shoulder. Gaara looked on calmly, but he was rather shocked. The attacker laughed at him mildly before suddenly charging forward, his one face that of a beast.

Temari and Saotome were already in position and had a plan that they set up. Shikimaru was in trouble and they knew just how to get him out of it. Just as the girl raised her flute, Saotome began playing, being the idiot that he was, the beginning of 'deliverance' from a safe spot.

Temari took the opportunity to blast her with a gust of wind. The flute girl barely managed to dodge and suddenly disappeared. At this time Saotome and Temari came out and helped Shikimaru up.

"Hey man, you ok?" Saotome asked as he held out a hand to the lazy genius "Hey! Its that guy who beat me and then gave up at the chuunin exam! Small world this is."

"Yeah, imagine that." Shikimaru said lazily as he took his hand and stood up "What are you guys doing out here anyway?"

"We saw you all heading off and decided you wouldn't survive unless you had some help. We passed two others up on the way here, that Hyuuga guy and some other kid." Temari said, informing him the best she could.

"Were they still alive?" Shikimaru asked quickly, showing in that instant that he was really worried about them, despite being lazy.

"They were fine dude." Saotome said as he pat him on the back. "Now all we have to do is-TEMARI WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!"

Temari was frozen, staring off into space when all of the sudden she just broke down and started crying. Then Saotome heard it, the sound of the evil flute. Try as he might though, he couldn't get Temari to snap out of it, then he too began staring.

It was night out, the full moon was glowing overhead. To his left Temari was leaning her head on his shoulder peacefully as they walked through the forest with each other's arms around them. Suddenly for no reason at all Saotome stopped.

"Saotome, what's wrong" Temari asked concernedly as he stared down at his hands as if they were more interesting than her.

"Run…" was all he could get out before hair started to grow all over his body. In a few seconds he was the demon once again, and he slowly approached her with hungry jaws.

Temari only backed up a few steps, still smiling sweetly. She didn't fear him at all. But why should she? It was only him after all, and he would never hurt her. And then with one swipe, he ripped her head from her shoulders like it was nothing.

Saotome suddenly fell to his knees with his girlfriends head still in his hands staring up at him with a confused expression on her lovely face, now completely detached from her beautiful body.

"Why? Why would you do that to me Saotome?" The head asked him, tears running down her eyes.

Saotome began shaking violently, staring into her dead eyes. Then the head was no longer there and the trembling continued. He didn't notice he was once again in his human form, staring at where her head used to be in his hands. A single tear fell down the side of his face.

"No…" was the only choked up word he managed to whisper as his right hand suddenly became that of the wolfs and began to claw at him maliciously. He didn't even try to fight it.

"NOOOOO!" Saotome suddenly yelled so loud that his echo could be heard across the forest in all directions.

Saotome didn't know what was happening any more. After he yelled, he didn't notice that the world suddenly returned to normal, even as he stared up at the sky. He didn't notice that his yell soon became a howl and that suddenly he was very, very hungry.

The flute player smirked from her hiding spot on the bushes nearby. She had successfully caught them in her genjutsu. All she had to do now was go in for the kill. She stopped for a second, curious as to where the howl came from. She didn't have time to ponder it however as it seemed the ground around her exploded.

Trees were uprooted, rocks were crushed, the very earth was moved slightly. All that could be discerned were the glowing red eyes attached to the snarling face with the drooling jaws. Desperately she tried to run, but it was no use as the creature caught hold of her leg and crushed it in it's iron tight grip, completely shattering the bone and anything else that might have been there.

She was held face to face with the wolf demon, staring into it's eyes. For the first time in her life, she was paralyzed with fear. She simply couldn't move. She had to sit by and watch as her arm was ripped off and the meat chewed by a wolf. She had to sit there, and contemplate how long it would take her to die as the creature began to eat her alive, slowly, savoring every morsel.

Temari suddenly woke up in almost exactly the same place she had blanked out in. She remembered the genjutsu, but then…everything went dark. To her left she saw Shikimaru, sitting there as if petrified. She looked around but couldn't find Saotome anywhere. Sensing something was amiss, she hopped out of the tree and searched around for him. She came to what she thought was a regular clearing and suddenly covered her mouth in surprise at what she found. Sitting in front of her was the half eaten corpse of a girl, while next to it, Saotome was lying in a heap with his eyes wide, staring at nothing at all.

"Oh my…" Was all she could say at the gruesome sight. Everything was in pieces. She ran over to Saotome and leaned down over him.

"No…run…run Temari…" Saotome mumbled in his vegetable like state "run…I love you Temari…I don't…don't want to hurt She said with tears in her eyes as she hugged his body close to her. She tried to carry him but found that she couldn't. She leaned against a tree and held him tightly against her, crying the entire time. She didn't even know why she was crying. Her tears fell like the rain, washing his skin of blood as they did so.

"I love you…" He continued mumbling, still not coming out of it "would never hurt…hurt you…love you…"

"I love you too Saotome…" She whispered into his ear as she held him close, not knowing what to do except wait for somebody to come and help her.

* * *

Review response:

Shang: well, you might just be right. All the same, it doesn't matter because I already wrote it. I don't want to lose a reader, but what's done is already done. Sorry if you're dissapointed. I'll keep it in mind as I get to that on my next story.

All right. For real this time. Keep on tranglin!


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